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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2 Esdras (Nehemias) 9: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Nehemiah 9
9
The People Confess Their Sins
1On the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month,#9.1 seventh month: Hebrew “same month.” the people of Israel went without eating, and they dressed in sackcloth and threw dirt on their heads to show their sorrow. 2They refused to let foreigners join them, as they met to confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3For three hours they stood and listened to the Law of the Lord their God, and then for the next three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord.
4Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the special platform for the Levites and prayed aloud to the Lord their God. 5Then the Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said:
“Stand and shout praises
to your Lord,
the eternal God!#9.5 shout … God: Or “shout eternal praises to the Lord your God.”
Praise his wonderful name,
though he is greater
than words can express.”
The People Pray
6You alone are the Lord,
Creator of the heavens
and all the stars,
Creator of the earth
and those who live on it,
Creator of the ocean
and all its creatures.
You are the source of life,
praised by the stars
that fill the heavens.
7 #
Gn 11.31; 12.1;
Gn 17.4,5. You are the Lord our God,
the one who chose Abram—
you brought him from Ur
in Babylonia
and named him Abraham.
8 #
Gn 15.18-21. Because he was faithful,
you made an agreement
to give his descendants
the land of the Canaanites
and Hittites,
of the Amorites and Perizzites,
and of the Jebusites
and Girgashites.
Now you have kept your promise,
just as you always do.
9 #
Ex 3.7;
Ex 14.10-12. When our ancestors
were in Egypt,
you saw their suffering;
when they were at the Red Sea,#9.9 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, “Sea of Reeds,” one of the marshes of fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta. This identification is based on Exodus 13.17—14.9, which lists the towns on the route of the Israelites before crossing the sea. In the Greek translation of the Scriptures made about 200 b.c., the “Sea of Reeds” was named “Red Sea.”
you heard their cry for help.
10 #
Ex 7.8,9—12.32. You knew that the King of Egypt
and his officials and his nation
had mistreated your people.
So you worked fearsome miracles
against the Egyptians
and earned a reputation
that still remains.
11 #
Ex 14.21-29;
Ex 15.4,5. You divided the deep sea,
and your people walked through
on dry land.
But you tossed their enemies in,
and they sank down
like a heavy stone.
12 #
Ex 13.21,22. Each day you led your people
with a thick cloud,
and at night you showed the way
with a flaming fire.
13 #
Ex 19.18—23.33. At Sinai you came down
from heaven,
and you gave your people
good laws and teachings
that are fair and honest.
14You commanded them to respect
your holy Sabbath,
and you instructed
your servant Moses
to teach them your laws.
15 #
Ex 16.4-15;
Ex 17.1-7;
Dt 1.20,21. When they were hungry,
you sent bread from heaven,
and when they were thirsty,
you let water flow
from a rock.
Then you commanded them
to capture the land
that you had solemnly promised.
* 16#Nu 14.1-4; Dt 1.26-33. Our stubborn ancestors
refused to obey—
they forgot about the miracles
you had worked for them,
and they were determined
to return to Egypt
and become slaves again.
17 #
Ex 34.6; Nu 14.18. But, our God, you are merciful
and quick to forgive;
you are loving, kind,
and very patient.
So you never turned away
from them—
18 #
Ex 32.1-4. not even when they made
an idol shaped like a calf
and insulted you by claiming,
“This is the god who rescued us
from Egypt.”
19 #
Dt 8.2-4. Because of your great mercy,
you never abandoned them
in the desert.
And you always guided them
with a cloud by day
and a fire at night.
20Your gentle Spirit
instructed them,#9.20 Your gentle Spirit instructed them: Or “You gently instructed them.”
and you gave them manna#9.20 manna: This was something like a thin wafer (see Exodus 16.1-36). to eat
and water to drink.
21You took good care of them,
and for forty years
they never lacked a thing.
Their clothes didn't wear out,
and their feet were never swollen.
22 #
Nu 21.21-35. You let them conquer kings
and take their land,
including King Sihon of Heshbon
and King Og of Bashan.#9.22 Bashan: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 22.
23 #
Js 3.14-17;
Gn 15.5; 22.17. You brought them into the land
that you had promised
their ancestors,
and you blessed their nation
with people that outnumbered
the stars in the sky.
24 #
Js 11.23. Then their descendants
conquered the land.
You helped them defeat
the kings and nations
and treat their enemies
however they wished.
25 #
Dt 6.10,11. They captured strong cities
and rich farmland;
they took furnished houses,
as well as cisterns,#9.25 cisterns: Pits dug into the ground to hold water.
vineyards, olive orchards,
and numerous fruit trees.
They ate till they were satisfied,
and they celebrated
your abundant blessings.
26 #
Jg 2.11-16. #Ws 2.10-20. In spite of this, they rebelled
and disobeyed your laws.
They killed your prophets,
who warned them
to turn back to you,
and they cursed your name.
27So you handed them over
to their enemies,
who treated them terribly.
But in their sufferings,
they begged you to help.
From heaven you listened
to their prayers
and because of your great mercy,
you sent leaders to rescue them.
28 #
3 Macc 2.12. But when they were at peace,
they would turn against you,
and you would hand them over
to their enemies.
Then they would beg for help,
and because you are merciful,
you rescued them
over and over again.
29 #
Lv 18.5. You warned them to turn back
and discover true life
by obeying your laws.
But they stubbornly refused
and continued to sin.
30 #
2 K 17.13-18; 2 Ch 36.15,16. For years, you were patient,
and your Spirit#9.30 your Spirit: Or “you.” warned them
with messages spoken
by your prophets.
Still they refused to listen,
and you handed them over
to their enemies.
31But you are merciful and kind,
and so you never forgot them
or let them be destroyed.
32 #
2 K 15.19,29; 17.3-6; Ezra 4.2,8-10. Our God, you are powerful,
fearsome, and faithful,
always true to your word.
So please keep in mind
the terrible sufferings
of our people, kings, leaders,
priests, and prophets,
from the time Assyria ruled
until this very day.
33You have always been fair
when you punished us
for our sins.
34Our kings and leaders,
our priests and ancestors
have never obeyed your commands
or heeded your warnings.
35You blessed them with a kingdom
and with an abundance
of rich, fertile land,
but they refused to worship you
or turn from their evil.
36Now we are slaves
in this fruitful land
you gave to our ancestors.
37Its plentiful harvest is taken
by kings you placed over us
because of our sins.
Our suffering is unbearable,
because they do as they wish
to us and our livestock.
The People Make an Agreement
38And so, a firm agreement was made that had the official approval of the leaders, the Levites, and priests.
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