Nehemiah 1
1 [I am] Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah. [I am writing] this account [of what I did when I returned to Jerusalem. After King Artaxerxes had been ruling the Persian Empire] for almost 20 years, near the end of that year, I was in Susa, the capital [of Persia].
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
2 My brother Hanani came to visit me. He and some other men had just returned from Judah. I queried them about the Jews who were living there, whose [parents] had been (exiled/taken forcefully) [to Babylonia many years previously]. I also asked them about [what was happening in] Jerusalem.
That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “The Jews in Jerusalem who returned there from Babylonia are living in a very difficult situation. The walls of the city have been broken down, and even the city gates have been burned down.”
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
4 When I heard that, I sat down and cried. For several days I mourned, and I (fasted/abstained from eating food), and I prayed to our God, [who is/rules] in heaven.
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 I said, “Yahweh, [you who are/rule] in heaven, you are a wonderful and awesome God. You keep your promise to faithfully love those who love you and who obey your commands.
And said, I beseech thee, O Yhwh God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
6 Now please look down and listen to what I am praying. I pray during the day and at night for your Israeli people. I confess that we Israeli people have sinned. Even my family and I have sinned against you.
Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.
7 We have acted very wickedly. [Many years ago] your servant Moses gave us your laws and all the things you commanded us to do [DOU], but we have not obeyed/done them.
We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 “But please remember what you told your servant Moses. You said, ‘If you sin, I will scatter you among the ([heathen nations/nations that do not believe in me]).
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 But if you return to me and obey my commands, even if you have been exiled to very remote/distant places on the earth, I will bring you back here [to Israel], the land that I [MTY] have chosen to be honored in.’
But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
10 “We are your servants. We are the people whom you brought here by your very great power [MTY, DOU]
Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
11 Yahweh, please hear this prayer of mine, and the prayers of all your people who are delighted to revere you [MTY]. Today I will go to the king, to request that he do me a great favor. Please motivate him to act kindly toward me, in order that I will be successful [in obtaining what I want].” At that time, I was the one whose work was to taste all the food and drink before it was served to the king, [to be sure that no one had put poison in it].
O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
