Nehemiah 9:18-38

18Even when they 1made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said, ‘This is your 2god Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies,193You, in Your great compassion, Did not abandon 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.20Instead, 5You 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 6forty 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 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 as 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 took possession of the land. And 12You 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 13as they desired.2514They captured fortified cities and a 1516fertile land. They took possession of 17houses full of every good thing, Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 18put on fat, And 19lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.

26“20But they became rebellious and revolted against You, And 21threw Your Law behind their backs And 22killed Your prophets who had 23admonished them In order to bring them back to You, And 24they committed great blasphemies.27Therefore You 25handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them, But when they cried out to You 26in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 27gave them 28people who saved them from the hand of their enemies.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 out 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, 33Which, if a person 34follows them, then he will live by them. And they 3536turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.3037However, You remained patient with them for many years, And 38admonished them by 39Your 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 40did not make an end of them or abandon them, For You are 41a gracious and compassionate God.

32“Now then, our God, 42the 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, 43From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.33However, 44You 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 45admonitions with which You have 46admonished them.35But 47they, in their own kingdom, 48With 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, 49we 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 50its 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“51Now because of all this 52We are making an agreement in writing; And on the 53sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites, and our priests.”