Nehemiah 9

The People Confess Their Sin

1Now on the twenty-fourth day of 1this month the sons of Israel assembled 2with fasting, in sackcloth and with 3dirt upon them. 2The 45descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and 6confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers. 3While 7they stood in their place, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. 48Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out 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! May Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise!69You alone are the Lord. 10You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their 11lights, The earth and everything that is on it, The seas and everything that is in them. 12You give life to all of them, And the heavenly 13lights bow down before You.7You are the Lord God, 14Who chose Abram And brought him out from 15Ur of the Chaldees, And 16gave him the name Abraham.8You found 17his 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 18descendants. And You 19have fulfilled Your 20promise, Because You are righteous.

9“21You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And 22heard their cry by the 23Red Sea.10Then You performed 24signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that 25they acted arrogantly toward them, And You 26made a name for Yourself as it is this day.1127You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And You hurled 28their pursuers into the depths, Like a stone into 29raging waters.12And with a pillar of cloud 30You 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 31You came down on Mount Sinai, And 32spoke with them from heaven; You gave them 33just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.14So You made known to them 34Your holy Sabbath, And gave them commandments, statutes, and law, Through Your servant Moses.15You 35provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You 36brought out water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You 37told them to enter in order to take possession of The land which You 38swore to give them.

16“But they, our fathers, 39acted arrogantly; They 4041became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.17They refused to listen, And 42did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them; So they became stubborn and 43appointed a leader to return to their slavery in 44Egypt. But You are a God 45of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in 46mercy; And You did not abandon them.18Even when they 47made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said, ‘This is your 48god Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies,1949You, in Your great compassion, Did not abandon them in the wilderness; 50The 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.20Instead, 51You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.21Indeed, for 52forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not lacking; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell up.22You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And allotted them to them as a 53boundary. 54They took possession of the land of Sihon 55the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.23You made their sons as numerous as 56the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.2457So their sons entered and took possession of the land. And 58You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, And You handed them over to them, with their kings and the peoples of the land, To do with them 59as they desired.2560They captured fortified cities and a 6162fertile land. They took possession of 63houses full of every good thing, Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 64put on fat, And 65lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.

26“66But they became rebellious and revolted against You, And 67threw Your Law behind their backs And 68killed Your prophets who had 69admonished them In order to bring them back to You, And 70they committed great blasphemies.27Therefore You 71handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them, But when they cried out to You 72in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 73gave them 74people who saved them from the hand of their enemies.28But 75as 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 out again to You, You heard from heaven, And 76many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,29And 77admonished them in order to turn them back to Your Law. Yet 78they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, 79Which, if a person 80follows them, then he will live by them. And they 8182turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.3083However, You remained patient with them for many years, And 84admonished them by 85Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not listen. Therefore You handed them over to the peoples of the lands.31Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You 86did not make an end of them or abandon them, For You are 87a gracious and compassionate God.

32“Now then, our God, 88the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness, Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has happened to us, our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and to all Your people, 89From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.33However, 90You are righteous in everything that has happened to 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 91admonitions with which You have 92admonished them.35But 93they, in their own kingdom, 94With Your great goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You placed before them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.36Behold, 95we are slaves today, And as for the land which You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves on it.37And 96its 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.

A Covenant Results

38“97Now because of all this 98We are making an agreement in writing; And on the 99sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites, and our priests.”