Nehemiah 9
9
The People Confess Their Sins
1Now on the twenty-fourth day of #Neh. 8:2this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, #Josh. 7:6; 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 1:2; Job 2:12and with dust on their heads. 2Then #Ezra 10:11; Neh. 13:3, 30those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and #Neh. 1:6confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3And they stood up in their place and #Neh. 8:7, 8read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one–fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
4Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said:
“Stand up and bless the Lord your God
Forever and ever!
“Blessed be #1 Chr. 29:13Your glorious name,
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
6#Deut. 6:4; 2 Kin. 19:15, 19; (Ps. 86:10); Is. 37:16, 20You alone are the Lord;
#Gen. 1:1; Ex. 20:11; Rev. 14:7You have made heaven,
#(Deut. 10:14); 1 Kin. 8:27The heaven of heavens, with #Gen. 2:1all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You #(Ps. 36:6)preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.
7“You are the Lord God,
Who chose #Gen. 11:31Abram,
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
And gave him the name #Gen. 17:5Abraham;
8You found his heart #Gen. 15:6; 22:1–3; (James 2:21–23)faithful before You,
And made a #Gen. 15:18covenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites,
And the Girgashites—
To give it to his descendants.
You #Josh. 23:14have performed Your words,
For You are righteous.
9“You#Ex. 2:25; 3:7 saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And #Ex. 14:10heard their cry by the Red Sea.
10You #Ex. 7—14showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants,
And against all the people of his land.
For You knew that they #Ex. 18:11acted proudly against them.
So You #Jer. 32:20made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
11#Ex. 14:20–28And You divided the sea before them,
So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
And their persecutors You threw into the deep,
#Ex. 15:1, 5As a stone into the mighty waters.
12Moreover You #Ex. 13:21, 22led them by day with a cloudy pillar,
And by night with a pillar of fire,
To give them light on the road
Which they should travel.
13“You#Ex. 20:1–18 came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven,
And gave them #(Rom. 7:12)just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14You made known to them Your #Gen. 2:3; Ex. 16:23; 20:8; 23:12holy Sabbath,
And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,
By the hand of Moses Your servant.
15You #Ex. 16:14–17; John 6:31gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And #Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:8; (1 Cor. 10:4)brought them water out of the rock for their thirst,
And told them to #Deut. 1:8go in to possess the land
Which You had sworn to give them.
16“But#Ps. 106:6 they and our fathers acted proudly,
#Deut. 1:26–33; 31:27; Neh. 9:29Hardened their necks,
And did not heed Your commandments.
17They refused to obey,
And #Ps. 78:11, 42–45they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them.
But they hardened their necks,
And in their rebellion
They appointed #Num. 14:4; Acts 7:39a leader
To return to their bondage.
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
#Joel 2:13Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.
18“Even #Ex. 32:4–8, 31when they made a molded calf for themselves,
And said, ‘This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,’
And worked great provocations,
19Yet in Your #Ps. 106:45manifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness.
The #Ex. 13:20–22; 1 Cor. 10:1pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road;
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To show them light,
And the way they should go.
20You also gave Your #Num. 11:17good Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your #Ex. 16:14–16manna from their mouth,
And gave them #Ex. 17:6water for their thirst.
21#Deut. 2:7Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;
They lacked nothing;
Their #Deut. 8:4; 29:5clothes did not wear out
And their feet did not swell.
22“Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into districts.
So they took possession of the land of #Num. 21:21–35Sihon,
The land of the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23You also multiplied #Gen. 15:5; 22:17; Heb. 11:12their children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.
24So #Josh. 1:2–4the people went in
And possessed the land;
#Josh. 18:1; (Ps. 44:2, 3)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.
25And they took strong cities and a #Num. 13:27rich land,
And possessed #Deut. 6:11; Josh. 24:13houses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and #(Deut. 32:15)grew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great #Hos. 3:5goodness.
26“Nevertheless they #Judg. 2:11were disobedient
And rebelled against You,
#1 Kin. 14:9; Ps. 50:17Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your #1 Kin. 18:4; 19:10; Matt. 23:37; Acts 7:52prophets, who testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.
27#Judg. 2:14; Ps. 106:41Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You #Ps. 106:44heard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
#Judg. 2:18You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.
28“But after they had rest,
#Judg. 3:12They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And #Ps. 106:43many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29And testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,
#Lev. 18:5; Rom. 10:5; (Gal. 3:12)‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’
And they shrugged their shoulders,
Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.
30Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And testified #2 Kin. 17:13–18; 2 Chr. 36:11–20; Jer. 7:25against them by Your Spirit #(Acts 7:51); 1 Pet. 1:11in Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
#Is. 5:5Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31Nevertheless in Your great mercy
#Jer. 4:27; (Rom. 11:2–5)You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.
32“Now therefore, our God,
The great, the #(Ex. 34:6, 7)mighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
#2 Kin. 15:19; 17:3–6; Ezra 4:2, 10From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33However #Ps. 119:137; (Dan. 9:14)You are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But #Ps. 106:6; (Dan. 9:5, 6, 8)we have done wickedly.
34Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.
35For they have #Deut. 28:47not served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.
36“Here #Deut. 28:48; Ezra 9:9we are, servants today!
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!
37And #Deut. 28:33, 51it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have #Deut. 28:48dominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.
38“And because of all this,
We #2 Kin. 23:3; 2 Chr. 29:10; Ezra 10:3make a sure covenant and write it;
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests #Neh. 10:1seal it.”
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Nehemiah 9: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
2 Esdras (Nehemias) 9
9
1And in the four and twentieth day of the month the children of Israel came together with fasting and with sackcloth, and earth upon them.
2And the seed of the children of Israel separated themselves from every stranger: and they stood, and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
3And they rose up to stand: and they read in the book of the law of the Lord their God, four times in the day. And four times they confessed, and adored the Lord their God.
4And there stood up upon the step of the Levites, Josue, and Bani, and Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias, Bani, and Chanani: and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
5And the Levites, Josue and Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia, Oduia, Sebnia, and Phathahia, said: Arise, bless the Lord your God from eternity to eternity: and blessed be the high name of thy glory with all blessing and praise.
6Thou thyself, O Lord alone, thou hast made heaven, and the heaven of heavens, and all the host thereof: the earth and all things that are in it: the seas and all that are therein. And thou givest life to all these things, and the host of heaven adoreth thee.
7Thou, O Lord God, art he who chosest Abram, and broughtest him forth out of the fire of the Chaldeans, and gavest him the name of Abraham.
8And thou didst find his heart faithful before thee. And thou madest a covenant with him, to give him the land of the Chanaanite, of the Hethite, and of the Amorrhite, and of the Pherezite, and of the Jebusite, and of the Gergezite, to give it to his seed. And thou hast fulfilled thy words, because thou art just.
9And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt: and thou didst hear their cry by the Red Sea.
10And thou shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharao, and upon all his servants, and upon the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. And thou madest thyself a name, as it is at this day.
11And thou didst divide the sea before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land: but their persecutors thou threwest into the depth, as a stone into mighty waters.
12And in a pillar of a cloud thou wast their leader by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, that they might see the way by which they went.
13Thou camest down also to mount Sinai, and didst speak with them from heaven: and thou gavest them right judgments, and the law of truth, ceremonies, and good precepts.
14Thou madest known to them thy holy sabbath, and didst prescribe to them commandments, and ceremonies, and the law, by the hand of Moses thy servant.
15And thou gavest them bread from heaven in their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock in their thirst. And thou saidst to them that they should go in, and possess the land, upon which thou hadst lifted up thy hand to give it them.
16But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments.
17And they would not hear, and they remembered not thy wonders which thou hadst done for them. And they hardened their necks, and gave the head to return to their bondage, as it were by contention. But thou, a forgiving God, gracious, and merciful, long-suffering, and full of compassion, didst not forsake them.
18Yea, when they had made also to themselves a molten calf, and had said: This is thy God, that brought thee out of Egypt; and had committed great blasphemies.
19Yet thou, in thy many mercies, didst not leave them in the desert. The pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way, and the pillar of fire by night to shew them the way by which they should go.
20And thou gavest them thy good Spirit to teach them; and thy manna thou didst not withhold from their mouth; and thou gavest them water for their thirst.
21Forty years didst thou feed them in the desert, and nothing was wanting to them: their garments did not grow old, and their feet were not worn.
22And thou gavest them kingdoms, and nations, and didst divide lots for them. And they possessed the land of Sehon, and the land of the king of Hesebon, and the land of Og king of Basan.
23And thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven: and broughtest them to the land concerning which thou hadst said to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it.
24And the children came and possessed the land: and thou didst humble before them the inhabitants of the land, the Chanaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as it pleased them.
25And they took strong cities and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods: cisterns made by others, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance. And they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and abounded with delight in thy great goodness.
26But they provoked thee to wrath, and departed from thee, and threw thy law behind their backs. And they killed thy prophets, who admonished them earnestly to return to thee. And they were guilty of great blasphemies.
27And thou gavest them into the hands of their enemies, and they afflicted them. And in the time of their tribulation they cried to thee; and thou heardest from heaven. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies thou gavest them saviours, to save them from the hands of their enemies.
28But after they had rest, they returned to do evil in thy sight: and thou leftest them in the hand of their enemies, and they had dominion over them. Then they returned, and cried to thee: and thou heardest from heaven, and deliveredst them many times in thy mercies.
29And thou didst admonish them to return to thy law. But they dealt proudly, and hearkened not to thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. And they withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
30And thou didst forbear with them for many years, and didst testify against them by thy spirit, by the hand of thy prophets. And they heard not, and thou didst deliver them into the hand of the people of the lands.
31Yet in thy very many mercies thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them: because thou art a merciful and gracious God.
32Now therefore our God, great, strong and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy, turn not away from thy face all the labour which hath come upon us: upon our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and all the people from the days of the king of Assur, until this day.
33And thou art just in all things that have come upon us: because thou hast done truth, but we have done wickedly.
34Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept thy law, and have not minded thy commandments, and thy testimonies which thou hast testified among them.
35And they have not served thee in their kingdoms, and in thy manifold goodness, which thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land, which thou deliveredst before them: nor did they return from their most wicked devices.
36Behold, we ourselves this day are bondmen: and the land, which thou gavest our fathers, to eat the bread thereof, and the good things thereof; and we ourselves are servants in it.
37And the fruits thereof grow up for the kings, whom thou hast set over us for our sins; and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our beasts, according to their will; and we are in great tribulation.
38And because of all this we ourselves make a covenant, and write it: and our princes, our Levites, and our priests sign it.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.