Nehemiah 9:6-37

61You alone are the Lord. 2You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their 3lights, The earth and everything that is on it, The seas and everything that is in them. 4You give life to all of them, And the heavenly 5lights bow down before You.7You are the Lord God, 6Who chose Abram And brought him out from 7Ur of the Chaldees, And 8gave him the name Abraham.8You found 9his 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 10descendants. And You 11have fulfilled Your 12promise, Because You are righteous.

9“13You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And 14heard their cry by the 15Red Sea.10Then You performed 16signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that 17they acted arrogantly toward them, And You 18made a name for Yourself as it is this day.1119You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And You hurled 20their pursuers into the depths, Like a stone into 21raging waters.12And with a pillar of cloud 22You 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 23You came down on Mount Sinai, And 24spoke with them from heaven; You gave them 25just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.14So You made known to them 26Your holy Sabbath, And gave them commandments, statutes, and law, Through Your servant Moses.15You 27provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You 28brought out water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You 29told them to enter in order to take possession of The land which You 30swore to give them.

16“But they, our fathers, 31acted arrogantly; They 3233became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.17They refused to listen, And 34did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them; So they became stubborn and 35appointed a leader to return to their slavery in 36Egypt. But You are a God 37of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in 38mercy; And You did not abandon them.18Even when they 39made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said, ‘This is your 40god Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies,1941You, in Your great compassion, Did not abandon them in the wilderness; 42The 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, 43You 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 44forty 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 45boundary. 46They took possession of the land of Sihon 47the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.23You made their sons as numerous as 48the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.2449So their sons entered and took possession of the land. And 50You 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 51as they desired.2552They captured fortified cities and a 5354fertile land. They took possession of 55houses full of every good thing, Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 56put on fat, And 57lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.

26“58But they became rebellious and revolted against You, And 59threw Your Law behind their backs And 60killed Your prophets who had 61admonished them In order to bring them back to You, And 62they committed great blasphemies.27Therefore You 63handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them, But when they cried out to You 64in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 65gave them 66people who saved them from the hand of their enemies.28But 67as 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 68many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,29And 69admonished them in order to turn them back to Your Law. Yet 70they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, 71Which, if a person 72follows them, then he will live by them. And they 7374turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.3075However, You remained patient with them for many years, And 76admonished them by 77Your 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 78did not make an end of them or abandon them, For You are 79a gracious and compassionate God.

32“Now then, our God, 80the 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, 81From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.33However, 82You 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 83admonitions with which You have 84admonished them.35But 85they, in their own kingdom, 86With 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, 87we 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 88its 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.