Nehemiah 9:16-37

16“But they, our fathers, 1acted arrogantly; They 23became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.17They refused to listen, And 4did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and 5appointed a leader to return to their slavery 6in Egypt. But You are a God 7of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.18Even when they 8made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, ‘This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great 9blasphemies,1910You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; 11The 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.2012You 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, 13forty 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 14boundary. 15They took possession of the land of Sihon 16the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.23You made their sons numerous as 17the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.2418So their sons entered and possessed the land. And 19You 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 20as they desired.2521They captured fortified cities and a 2223fertile land. They took possession of 24houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 25grew fat, And 26reveled in Your great goodness.

26“27But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And 28cast Your law behind their backs And 29killed Your prophets who had 30admonished them So that they might return to You, And 31they committed great 32blasphemies.27Therefore You 33delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You 34in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 35gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.28But 36as 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 37many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,29And 38admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet 39they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By 40which if a man observes them he shall live. And they 4142turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.3043However, You bore with them for many years, And 44admonished them by 45Your 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 46did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are 47a gracious and compassionate God.

32“Now therefore, our God, 48the 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, 49From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.33However, 50You 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 51admonitions with which You have 52admonished them.35But 53they, in their own kingdom, 54With 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, 55we 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.3756Its 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.