Nehemiah 9:13-38

13Then 1You came down on Mount Sinai, And 2spoke with them from heaven; You gave them 3just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.14So You made known to them 4Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses.15You 5provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You 6brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You 7told them to enter in order to possess The land which You 8swore to give them.

16“But they, our fathers, 9acted arrogantly; They 1011became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.17They refused to listen, And 12did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and 13appointed a leader to return to their slavery 14in Egypt. But You are a God 15of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.18Even when they 16made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, ‘This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great 17blasphemies,1918You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; 19The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.2020You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.21Indeed, 21forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.22You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And allotted them to them as a 22boundary. 23They took possession of the land of Sihon 24the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.23You made their sons numerous as 25the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.2426So their sons entered and possessed the land. And 27You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, To do with them 28as they desired.2529They captured fortified cities and a 3031fertile land. They took possession of 32houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 33grew fat, And 34reveled in Your great goodness.

26“35But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And 36cast Your law behind their backs And 37killed Your prophets who had 38admonished them So that they might return to You, And 39they committed great 40blasphemies.27Therefore You 41delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You 42in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 43gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.28But 44as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You; Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them. When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven, And 45many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,29And 46admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet 47they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By 48which if a man observes them he shall live. And they 4950turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.3051However, You bore with them for many years, And 52admonished them by 53Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.31Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You 54did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are 55a gracious and compassionate God.

32“Now therefore, our God, 56the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness, Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, 57From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.33However, 58You are just in all that has come upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.34For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your 59admonitions with which You have 60admonished them.35But 61they, in their own kingdom, 62With Your great goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You set before them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.36Behold, 63we are slaves today, And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves in it.3764Its abundant produce is for the kings Whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress.

38“65Now because of all this 66We are making an agreement in writing; And on the 67sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.”