Nehemiah 9
9
Nehemiah 9
1¶ Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them.
2And the seed of Israel had separated themselves from all strangers and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
3And 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 worshipped the Lord their God.
4¶ Then stood up upon the stairs of the Levites, Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani and cried with a loud voice unto the Lord their God.
5Then the Levites, Jeshua, 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.
6Thou, O Lord, art alone; thou hast made the heavens and the heavens of the heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is therein, and thou givest life to them all; and the host of the heavens worship thee.
7Thou art, O Lord, the God who didst choose Abram and didst bring him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees and didst give him the name of Abraham
8and didst find his heart faithful before thee and didst make a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it, to his seed and hast performed thy word; for thou art righteous.
9And thou didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and didst hear their cry by the Red Sea
10and didst show signs and wonders upon Pharaoh and on all his slaves and on all the people of his land; for thou didst know that they had dealt proudly against them. So didst thou make thee a name, as it is this day.
11And 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 didst throw into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
12Moreover, thou didst lead them by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light in the way by which they should go.
13Thou didst come down upon Mount Sinai and didst speak with them from heaven and didst give them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments,
14and didst make known unto them the sabbath of thy holiness and didst prescribe for them commandments, statutes, and law by the hand of Moses, thy slave.
15And thou didst give them bread from heaven in their hunger and didst bring forth water for them out of the rock in their thirst and didst promise them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
16But they and our fathers dealt proudly and hardened their necks and did not hearken unto thy commandments
17and refused to hear; neither did they remember thy wonders that thou hadst done among them, but hardened their necks and in their rebellion thought to appoint a leader to return to their bondage; but thou art a God of pardons, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great mercy, for thou didst not leave them.
18Even when they had made themselves a molten calf and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had committed great abominations;
19yet thou in thy manifold mercies didst not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to illuminate the way in which they should go.
20Thou didst give thy good spirit to teach them and didst not withhold thy manna from their mouth and didst give them water for their thirst.
21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wax old, and their feet did not swell.
22Thou didst give them kingdoms and peoples 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.
23Thou didst multiply their sons as the stars of heaven and didst introduce them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to inherit it.
24So the sons came in and possessed the land, and thou didst humble the inhabitants of the land before them, the Canaanites, and didst give them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would.
25And they took strong cities and fertile land and inherited houses full of all goods, hewn cisterns, vineyards and oliveyards and many trees of good fruit; so they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
26Nevertheless, they were contentious 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 abominations.
27Therefore, thou didst deliver them into the hand of their enemies, who afflicted them; and in the time of their tribulation, they cried unto thee, thou didst hear them from the heavens; and according to thy manifold mercies thou didst give them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
28But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee; therefore, thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried unto thee, thou didst hear them from the heavens; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies
29and didst protest unto them, that they return unto thy law; yet they dealt proudly and did not hearken unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments (which if a man shall do, in them he shall live) and withdrew the shoulder and hardened their neck and would not hear.
30Yet many years didst thou forbear them and didst protest against them with thy spirit by the hand of thy prophets; yet they did not hear; therefore, thou didst give them into the hand of the peoples of the land.
31Nevertheless, for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
32Now, therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and terrible God, who keeps covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that has come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, on our prophets, on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
33Howbeit thou art just in all that has come upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly;
34neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, with which thou didst testify against them.
35For they did not serve thee in their kingdom and in thy great goodness that thou didst give them and in the large and fat land which thou didst deliver before them; neither did they turn from their wicked works.
36Behold, we are slaves this day, behold us here, slaves in the land which thou didst give unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof.
37And it multiplies its fruit for the kings, whom thou hast set over us because of our sins, who have dominion over our bodies and over our cattle, according to their will, and we are in great distress.
38And because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it.
Currently Selected:
Nehemiah 9: JUB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Nechemyah (Neh) 9
9
1On the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Isra’el, wearing sackcloth and with dirt on them, assembled for a fast. 2Those descended from Isra’el separated themselves from all foreigners; then they stood up and confessed their own sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. 3Standing where they were, they read in the scroll of the Torah of Adonai their God for one-quarter of the day. For another quarter they confessed and prostrated themselves before Adonai their God. 4On the platform of the L’vi’im stood Yeshua, Bani, Kadmi’el, Sh’vanyah, Buni, Sherevyah, Bani and K’nani; they cried out loudly to Adonai their God. 5Then the L’vi’im Yeshua, Kadmi’el, Bani, Hashavn’yah, Sherevyah, Hodiyah, Sh’vanyah and P’tachyah said, “Stand up, and bless Adonai your God from everlasting to everlasting; let them say:
“‘Blessed be your glorious name,
exalted above all blessing and praise!
6“‘You are Adonai, you alone.
You made heaven,
the heaven of heavens, with all their array,
the earth and all the things that are in it,
the seas and all that is in them;
and you preserve them all.
The army of heaven worships you.
7“‘You are Adonai, the God who chose Avram,
brought him out of Ur-Kasdim
and gave him the name of Avraham.
8Finding that he was faithful to you,
you made a covenant with him
to give the land of the Kena‘ani,
the Hitti, Emori and P’rizi,
the Y’vusi and the Girgashi,
to give it to his descendants;
and you have done what you promised,
because you are just.
9“‘You saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt
and heard their cry by the Sea of Suf.
10You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
against all his servants and the people of the land;
for you knew how arrogantly they treated them;
and you won yourself a name which is yours to this day.
11You divided the sea ahead of them,
so that they could pass through the sea on dry land;
then you hurled their pursuers into the depths,
like a stone into turbulent waters.
12“‘In a column of cloud you led them by day,
and by night in a column of fire,
so that they would have light ahead of them
on the way that they were to go.
13“‘You descended on Mount Sinai
and spoke with them from heaven.
You gave them right rulings and true teachings,
good laws and mitzvot.
14You revealed to them your holy Shabbat
and gave them mitzvot, laws and the Torah
through Moshe your servant.
15“‘For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven;
for their thirst you brought forth for them water from the rock.
You ordered them to enter and possess the land
you had sworn with your hand to give them.
16“‘But they and our ancestors were arrogant;
they stiffened their necks and ignored your mitzvot;
17they refused to listen and paid no attention
to the wonders you had done among them.
No, they stiffened their necks, and in their rebellion
appointed a leader to return them to their slavery.
But because you are a God of forgiveness,
merciful, full of compassion,
slow to grow angry and full of grace,
you did not abandon them.
18Even when they cast themselves a metal calf,
saying of it, “This is your god
that brought you up from Egypt,”
and committing other gross provocations;
19still, you, in your great compassion,
did not abandon them in the desert.
The column of cloud did not leave them by day;
it kept leading them along the way.
By night the column of fire
kept showing them light and the path to take.
20You also gave your good Spirit to teach them,
did not withhold man from their mouths
and provided them water to quench their thirst.
21Yes, forty years you sustained them in the desert;
they lacked nothing —
their clothes did not wear out;
their feet did not swell up.
22“‘You gave them kingdoms and peoples;
you even gave them extra land,
so that they took possession of the land of Sichon,
also the land of the king of Heshbon
and the land of ‘Og king of Bashan.
23You made their children as numerous
as the countless stars in the sky.
“‘Then you brought them into the land
about which you had said to their fathers
that they should go in and take possession of it.
24So the children went in and possessed the land,
as you subdued ahead of them
the Kena‘ani living in the land,
and handed them over to them,
along with their kings and the peoples of the land,
for them to do with as they wished.
25They took fortified cities and fertile land,
possessed houses full of all kinds of good things,
dug-out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
fruit trees in plenty;
so they ate their fill and grew robust,
luxuriating in your great goodness.
26“‘Yet they disobeyed and rebelled against you,
throwing your Torah behind their backs.
They killed your prophets for warning them
that they should return to you
and committed other gross provocations.
27So you handed them over to the power
of their adversaries, who oppressed them.
Yet in the time of their trouble,
when they cried out to you,
you heard from heaven, and in keeping
with your great compassion,
you gave them saviors to save them
from the power of their adversaries.
28But as soon as they had gotten some relief,
they went back to do evil before you.
So you left them in the power of their enemies,
who came down hard on them.
Yet when they returned and cried out to you,
you heard from heaven many times
and saved them, according to your compassion.
29You warned them, in order to bring them back
to your Torah; yet they were arrogant.
They paid no attention to your mitzvot,
but sinned against your rulings,
which, if a person does them,
he will have life through them.
However, they stubbornly turned their shoulders,
stiffened their necks and refused to hear.
30Many years you extended them mercy
and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets;
yet they would not listen.
Therefore you handed them over
to the peoples of the lands.
31Even so, in your great compassion,
you didn’t completely destroy them;
nor did you abandon them,
for you are a compassionate and merciful God.
32“‘Now therefore, our God,
great, mighty, fearsome God,
who keeps both covenant and grace:
let not all this suffering seem little to you
that has come on us, our kings, our leaders,
our cohanim, our prophets, our ancestors,
and on all your people,
from the times of the kings of Ashur
until this very day.
33There is no question that you are just
in all that has come upon us;
for you have treated us fairly.
It is we who have acted wickedly.
34Our kings, our leaders, our cohanim and ancestors
did not keep your Torah,
pay attention to your mitzvot
or heed the warnings you gave them.
35Even when they ruled their own kingdom,
even when you prospered them greatly,
in the great, rich land you gave them,
they did not serve you;
nor did they turn from their wicked deeds.
36“‘So here we are today, slaves.
Yes, in the land you gave our ancestors,
so that they could eat what it produces
and enjoy its good —
here we are in it, slaves!
37Its rich yield now goes to the kings
you have set over us because of our sins;
they have power over our bodies,
they can do what they please to our livestock,
and we are in great distress!
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,
Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible