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 gave them commandments, statutes, and law, Through Your servant Moses.15You 5provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You 6brought out water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You 7told them to enter in order to take possession of 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 performed among them; So they became stubborn and 13appointed a leader to return to their slavery in 14Egypt. But You are a God 15of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in 16mercy; And You did not abandon them.18Even when they 17made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said, ‘This is your 18god Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies,1919You, in Your great compassion, Did not abandon them in the wilderness; 20The 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, 21You 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 22forty 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 23boundary. 24They took possession of the land of Sihon 25the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.23You made their sons as numerous as 26the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.2427So their sons entered and took possession of the land. And 28You 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 29as they desired.2530They captured fortified cities and a 3132fertile land. They took possession of 33houses full of every good thing, Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 34put on fat, And 35lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.

26“36But they became rebellious and revolted against You, And 37threw Your Law behind their backs And 38killed Your prophets who had 39admonished them In order to bring them back to You, And 40they committed great blasphemies.27Therefore You 41handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them, But when they cried out to You 42in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 43gave them 44people who saved them from the hand of their enemies.28But 45as 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 46many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,29And 47admonished them in order to turn them back to Your Law. Yet 48they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, 49Which, if a person 50follows them, then he will live by them. And they 5152turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.3053However, You remained patient with them for many years, And 54admonished them by 55Your 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 56did not make an end of them or abandon them, For You are 57a gracious and compassionate God.

32“Now then, our God, 58the 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, 59From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.33However, 60You 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 61admonitions with which You have 62admonished them.35But 63they, in their own kingdom, 64With 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, 65we 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 66its 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“67Now because of all this 68We are making an agreement in writing; And on the 69sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites, and our priests.”