Nehemiah 9:18-38

18Even when they 1made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, ‘This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great 2blasphemies,193You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; 4The 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.205You 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, 6forty 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 7boundary. 8They took possession of the land of Sihon 9the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.23You made their sons numerous as 10the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.2411So their sons entered and possessed the land. And 12You 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 13as they desired.2514They captured fortified cities and a 1516fertile land. They took possession of 17houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 18grew fat, And 19reveled in Your great goodness.

26“20But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And 21cast Your law behind their backs And 22killed Your prophets who had 23admonished them So that they might return to You, And 24they committed great 25blasphemies.27Therefore You 26delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You 27in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 28gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.28But 29as 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 30many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,29And 31admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet 32they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By 33which if a man observes them he shall live. And they 3435turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.3036However, You bore with them for many years, And 37admonished them by 38Your 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 39did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are 40a gracious and compassionate God.

32“Now therefore, our God, 41the 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, 42From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.33However, 43You 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 44admonitions with which You have 45admonished them.35But 46they, in their own kingdom, 47With 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, 48we 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.3749Its 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“50Now because of all this 51We are making an agreement in writing; And on the 52sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.”