Nehemiah 9

1 Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.

2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God [one] fourth part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshiped the LORD their God.

While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

4 Then stood upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, and cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.

5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up [and] bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 Thou, [even] thou, [art] LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all [things] that [are] in it, the seas, and all that [is] in them, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshipeth thee.

You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.

7 Thou [art] the LORD the God, who chosest Abram, and broughtest him forth from Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;

You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him, to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give [it], [I say], to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou [art] righteous:

You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites— to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.

9 And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;

You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea.

10 And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as [it is] this day.

You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.

11 And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.

You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.

12 Moreover, thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way in which they should go.

You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.

13 Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spokest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:

You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

14 And madest known to them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses.

15 And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

17 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst perform among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou [art] a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This [is] thy God that brought thee out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,

19 Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.

You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

20 Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes grew not old, and their feet swelled not.

For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

22 Moreover, thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.

23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess [it].

You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

24 So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished.

25 And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards and olive-yards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they ate and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.

26 Nevertheless, they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets who testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who distressed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried to thee, thou hearedest [them] from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them deliverers, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.

28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore thou leftest them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned and cried to thee, thou hearedest [them] from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;

But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion.

29 And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again to thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not to thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man doeth, he shall live in them: ) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

30 Yet many years didst thou forbear over them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore thou gavest them into the hand of the people of the lands.

You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.

31 Nevertheless, for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou [art] a gracious and merciful God.

But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.

So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

33 But thou [art] just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

34 Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened to thy commandments and thy testimonies, with which thou didst testify against them.

Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.

35 For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.

36 Behold, we [are] servants this day, and [for] the land that thou gavest to our fathers to eat the fruit of it and the good of it, behold, we [are] servants in it:

So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness— here we are as slaves!

37 And it yieldeth much increase to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we [are] in great distress.

Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.

38 And because of all this we make a sure [covenant], and write [it]; and our princes, Levites, [and] priests, set their seals [to it].

In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”