Nehemiah 9

1 Now, on the twenty-fourth day of this month, were the sons of Israel gathered together, with fasting and with sackcloth, having earth upon them.

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel assembled with fasting, and in sackcloths, and with ashes on their head.

2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all the sons of the foreigner, —and stood and made confession over their own sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

And the children of Israel separated themselves from every stranger, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 So they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Yahweh their God, a fourth part of the day, —and, a fourth part, they were making confession and bowing themselves down, unto Yahweh their God.

And they stood in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their god: and they confessed [their sins] to the Lord, and worshipped the Lord their God.

4 Then stood up on the platform of the Levites, Jeshua and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, Chenani, —and made outcry, with a loud voice, unto Yahweh their God.

[And] there stood upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jesus, and the sons of Cadmiel, Sechenia the son of Sarabia, sons of Choneni; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

5 Then said the Levites—Jeshua and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, Stand up, bless Yahweh your God, from age to age, —Yea let them bless thy glorious Name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

And the Levites, Jesus and Cadmiel, said, Rise up, bless the Lord our God forever and ever: and let them bless your glorious name, and exalt it with all blessing and praise.

6 Thou, art Yahweh, thou alone, Thou, didst make the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is thereon, the seas and all that is therein, and, thou, holdest them all in life, —and, the host of the heavens, unto thee, are bowing down.

And Esdras said, You are the only true Lord; you made the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, and all their array, the earth, and all things that are in it, the seas, and all things in them; and you quicken all things, and the hosts of heaven worship you.

7 Thou, art Yahweh, God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, —and madest his name Abraham;

You are the Lord God, you did choose Abram, and brought him out of the land of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name of Abraam:

8 and didst find his heart faithful before thee, and didst solemnize with him a covenant, to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, —to give it unto his seed, —and didst confirm thy words, for, righteous, thou art.

and you found his heart faithful before you, and did make a covenant with him to give to him and to his seed the land of the Chananites, and the Chettites, and Amorites, and Pherezites, and Jebusites, and Gergesites; and you have confirmed your words, for you [are] righteous.

9 Yea thou sawest the affliction of our fathers, in Egypt, and, their outcry, thou heardest, by the Red Sea;

And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea.

10 and didst grant signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for thou hadst taken note, that they ruled proudly over them, —and so thou didst make thee a name, as at this day.

And you showed signs and wonders in Egypt, on Pharao and all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for you know that they behaved insolently against them: and you made yourself a name, as at this day.

11 And, the sea, didst thou cleave asunder before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea, on dry ground, —whereas, their pursuers, thou didst cast into the depths like a stone, into the mighty waters,

And you did cleave the sea before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land; and you did cast into the deep them that were about to pursue them, as a stone in the mighty water.

12 And, in a pillar of cloud, didst thou lead them, by day, —and in a pillar of fire, by night, to light up for them the way wherein they should go.

And you guided them by day by a pillar of cloud, and by night by a pillar of fire, to enlighten for them the way wherein they should walk.

13 And, upon Mount Sinai, camest thou down, and spakest with them out of the heavens, —and gavest them just regulations, and faithful laws, good statutes and commandments.

Also you came down upon mount Sina, and you spoke to them out of heaven, and gave them right judgements, and laws of truth, ordinances, and good commandments.

14 And, thy holy sabbath, didst thou make known to them, —and, commandments and statutes and a law, didst thou command them, through Moses thy servant.

And you did make known to them your holy sabbath; you did enjoin upon them commandments, and ordinances, and a law, by the hand of your servant Moses.

15 And, bread out of the heavens, didst thou give them, for their hunger, and, waters out of the cliff, didst thou bring them, for their thirst, —and badest them go in to take possession of the land, which thou hadst lifted thy hand to give them.

And you gave them bread from heaven for their food, and you brought them forth water from a rock for their thirst; and you bade them go in to inherit the land over which you stretched out your hand to give [it] them.

16 But, they and our fathers, dealt proudly, —and hardened their neck, and hearkened not unto thy commandments;

But they and our fathers behaved proudly, and hardened their neck, and did not listen to your commandments,

17 but refused to hearken, neither kept in mind thy wonders which thou hadst done with them, but they hardened their neck, and appointed a head that they might return to their servitude, in their perverseness. But, thou, art a God of forgivenesses, gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness, and didst not forsake them.

and refused to listen, and remembered not your wonders which you wrought with them; and they hardened their neck, and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt: but you, O God, [are] merciful and compassionate, longsuffering, and abundant in mercy, and you did not forsake them.

18 Yea, although they made them a molten calf, and said, This, is thy God, that brought thee up out of Egypt, —and wrought great insults,

And still farther they even made to themselves a molten calf, and said, These [are] the gods that brought us up out of Egypt: and they wrought great provocations.

19 yet, thou, in thine abounding compassions, didst not forsake them in the desert, —the pillar of cloud, departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light up for them the way wherein they should go.

Yet you in your great compassions did not forsake them in the wilderness: you did not turn away from them the pillar of the cloud by day, to guide them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to enlighten for them the way wherein they should walk.

20 And, thy Good Spirit, thou gavest, to instruct them, —and, thy manna, thou withheldest not from their mouth, and, water, thou gavest them, for their thirst.

And you gave your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water in their thirst.

21 Yea, forty years, didst thou sustain them in the desert, they lacked nothing, —their mantles, waxed not old and, their feet, swelled not.

And you did sustain them forty years in the wilderness; you did not allow anything to fail them: their garments did not wax old, and their feet were not bruised.

22 And thou gavest them kingdoms, and peoples, and allotted to each of them a corner, —and they took possession of the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

Moreover, you gave them kingdoms, and did divide nations to them: and they inherited the land of Seon king of Esebon, and the land of Og king of Basan.

23 Their children also, didst thou multiply, like the stars of the heavens, —and didst bring them into the land which thou hadst promised their fathers they should enter to possess;

And you did multiply their children as the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land of which you spoke to their fathers;

24 so the children entered and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and deliveredst them into their hand, —with their kings, and the peoples of the land, to do with them according to their pleasure;

And they inherited it: and you did destroy from before them the dwellers in the land of the Chananites, and you gave into their hands them and their kings, and the nations of the land, to do to them as it pleased them.

25 and they captured fortified cities and a fat soil, and took possession of houses full of every good thing, wells digged, vineyards and oliveyards and fruit-trees, in abundance, —so they did eat and were filled and became fat, and luxuriated in thy great goodness.

And they took lofty cities, and inherited houses full of all good things, wells dug, vineyards, and olive yards, and every fruit tree in abundance: so they ate, and were filled, and grew fat, and rioted in your great goodness.

26 But they murmured and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their back, and, thy prophets, they slew, who testified against them that they might turn them back unto thee, —and they wrought great insults.

But they turned, and revolted from you, and cast your law behind their backs; and they killed your prophets, who testified against them to turn them back to you, and they wrought great provocations.

27 Therefore didst thou deliver them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them, —and, in the time of their distress, they made outcry unto thee, and, thou, out of the heavens, didst hear, and, according to thine abounding compassions, gavest them saviours, that they might save them out of the hand of their adversaries.

Then you gave them into the hand of them that afflicted them, and they did afflict them: and they cried to you in the time of their affliction, and you did hear them from your heaven, and in your great compassions gave them deliverers, and did save them from the hand of them that afflicted them.

28 But, as soon as they had rest, they again wrought wickedness before thee, —and thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies, who bare rule over them, yet, when they again made outcry unto thee, thou, from the heavens, didst hear and didst deliver them according to thy compassions, many times;

But when they rested, they did evil again before you: so you left them in the hands of their enemies, and they ruled over them: and they cried again to you, and you heard [them] from heaven, and did deliver them in your great compassions.

29 and didst testify against them, to bring them back unto thy law, yet, they, dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, and, against thy regulations, they sinned, the which—if any son of earth shall do—then shall he live by them, —and yielded a rebellious shoulder, and, their neck, they stiffened, and hearkened not.

And you did testify against them, to bring them back to your law: but they listened not, but sinned against your commandments and your judgements, which if a man do, he shall live in them; and they turned their back, and hardened their neck, and heard not.

30 And thou didst suffer many years to pass over them, and didst testify against them by thy Spirit through thy prophets, yet did they not give ear, —therefore didst thou deliver them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Yet you did bear long with them many years, and did testify to them by your Spirit by the hand of your prophets: but they listened not; so you gave them into the hand of the nations of the land.

31 Yet, in thine abounding compassions, thou didst not make of them an end, neither didst thou forsake them, —for, a GOD gracious and full of compassion, thou art.

But you in your many mercies did not appoint them to destruction, and did not forsake them; for you are strong, and merciful, and pitiful.

32 Now, therefore, O our God—the GOD great, mighty, and fearful—keeping the covenant and the lovingkindness, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, which hath come upon us—on our kings, on our rulers, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, —from the days of the kings of Assyria, until this day.

And now, O our God, the powerful, the great, the mighty, and the terrible, keeping your covenant and your mercy, let not all the trouble seem little in your sight which has come upon us, and our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and upon all your people, from the days of the kings of Assur even to this day.

33 But, thou, art righteous, as to all that hath fallen upon us, —for, faithfulness, hast thou wrought, whereas, we, have been lawless;

But you [are] righteous in all the things that come upon us; for you have wrought faithfully, but we have greatly sinned.

34 and, our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers, have not kept thy law, —nor given heed unto thy commandments, or unto thy testimonies, wherewith thou hast testified against them.

And our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our fathers, have not performed your law, and have not given heed to your commandments, and [have not kept] your testimonies which you did testify to them.

35 But, they, in their kingdom, and in thine abundant goodness which thou gavest them, and in the broad and fat land which thou didst set before them, did not serve thee, neither turned they from their wicked doings.

And they did not serve you in your kingdom, and in your great goodness which you gave to them, and in the large and fat land which you did furnish before them, and they turned not from their evil devices.

36 Lo! we, to-day, are bondmen—even upon the land which thou gavest our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, lo! we, are bondmen;

Behold, we are servants this day, and [as for] the land which you gave to our fathers to eat the fruit of it and the good things of it, behold, we are servants upon it:

37 and, the increase thereof, aboundeth unto the kings whom thou hast set over us, for our sins, —and, over our bodies, are they bearing rule, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and, in great distress, we are.

and its produce [is] abundant for the kings whom you did appoint over us because of our sins; and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, as it pleases them, and we are in great affliction.

38 Seeing, therefore, all this, we, are plighting our faith, and putting it in writing, —and, upon the sealed scroll, are our rulers, our Levites, our priests.

And in regard to all these circumstances we make a covenant, and write [it], and our princes, our Levites, [and] our priests, set their seal to [it].