Nehemiah 9:4-38

41Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

5Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise!62You alone are the Lord. 3You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. 4You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.7You are the Lord God, 5Who chose Abram And brought him out from 6Ur of the Chaldees, And 7gave him the name Abraham.8You found 8his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite-- To give it to his 9descendants. And You 10have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous.

9“11You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And 12heard their cry by the 13Red Sea.10Then You performed 14signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that 15they acted arrogantly toward them, And 16made a name for Yourself as it is this day.1117You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And 18their pursuers You hurled into the depths, Like a stone into 19raging waters.12And with a pillar of cloud 20You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go.13Then 21You came down on Mount Sinai, And 22spoke with them from heaven; You gave them 23just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.14So You made known to them 24Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses.15You 25provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You 26brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You 27told them to enter in order to possess The land which You 28swore to give them.

16“But they, our fathers, 29acted arrogantly; They 3031became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.17They refused to listen, And 32did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and 33appointed a leader to return to their slavery 34in Egypt. But You are a God 35of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.18Even when they 36made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, ‘This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great 37blasphemies,1938You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; 39The 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.2040You 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, 41forty 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 42boundary. 43They took possession of the land of Sihon 44the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.23You made their sons numerous as 45the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.2446So their sons entered and possessed the land. And 47You 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 48as they desired.2549They captured fortified cities and a 5051fertile land. They took possession of 52houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 53grew fat, And 54reveled in Your great goodness.

26“55But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And 56cast Your law behind their backs And 57killed Your prophets who had 58admonished them So that they might return to You, And 59they committed great 60blasphemies.27Therefore You 61delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You 62in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 63gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.28But 64as 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 65many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,29And 66admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet 67they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By 68which if a man observes them he shall live. And they 6970turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.3071However, You bore with them for many years, And 72admonished them by 73Your 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 74did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are 75a gracious and compassionate God.

32“Now therefore, our God, 76the 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, 77From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.33However, 78You 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 79admonitions with which You have 80admonished them.35But 81they, in their own kingdom, 82With 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, 83we 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.3784Its 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“85Now because of all this 86We are making an agreement in writing; And on the 87sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.”