Nehemiah 9

1Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

2And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.footnote a

3And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.

4Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.footnote b

5Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

7Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;

8And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

9And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;

10And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.

11And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.

12Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.

13Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:footnote c

14And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

15And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.footnote d

16But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

17And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.footnote e

18Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

19Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

20Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

21Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

22Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

23Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

24So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.footnote f

25And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.footnote gfootnote h

26Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

27Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

28But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;footnote i

29And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.footnote j

30Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.footnote kfootnote l

31Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

32Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.footnote mfootnote n

33Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

34Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

35For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

36Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

37And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

38And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.footnote o

The People Confess Their Sins

1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads. 2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

4And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God. 5Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting:Blessed be Your glorious name,and may it be exaltedabove all blessing and praise. 6You alone are the LORD.You created the heavens,the highest heavens with all their host,the earth and all that is on it,the seas and all that is in them.You give life to all things,and the host of heaven worships You.

7You are the LORD,the God who chose Abram,who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeansand gave him the name Abraham. 8You found his heart faithful before You,and made a covenant with himto give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites,of the Amorites and Perizzites,of the Jebusites and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants.You have kept Your promise,because You are righteous.

9You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt;You heard their cry at the Red Sea.footnote a 10You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,all his officials, and all the people of his land,for You knew they had acted with arroganceagainst our fathers.You made a name for Yourselfthat endures to this day. 11You divided the sea before them,and they crossed through it on dry ground.You hurled their pursuers into the depthslike a stone into raging waters.

12You led them with a pillar of cloud by dayand a pillar of fire by night,to light for them the wayin which they should travel. 13You came down on Mount Sinaiand spoke with them from heaven.You gave them just ordinances, true laws,and good statutes and commandments. 14You revealed to them Your holy Sabbathand gave them commandments and statutes and lawsthrough Your servant Moses. 15In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven;in their thirst You brought them water from the rock.You told them to go in and possess the landthat You had sworn to give them.

16But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-neckedand did not obey Your commandments. 17They refused to listen and failed to rememberthe wonders You performed among them.They stiffened their necks and appointed a leaderto return them to their bondage in Egypt.footnote bBut You are a forgiving God,gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and rich in loving devotion,and You did not forsake them.

18Even when they cast for themselvesan image of a calf and said,‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’and when they committed terrible blasphemies, 19You in Your great compassiondid not forsake them in the wilderness.By day the pillar of cloud never turned awayfrom guiding them on their path;and by the night the pillar of fireilluminated the way they should go. 20You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them.You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths,and You gave them water for their thirst. 21For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness,so that they lacked nothing.Their clothes did not wear outand their feet did not swell.

22You gave them kingdoms and peoplesand allotted to them every corner of the land.So they took the land of Sihonfootnote cking of Heshbonand of Og king of Bashan. 23You multiplied their descendantslike the stars of heavenand brought them to the landYou had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24So their descendants went in and possessed the land;You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land.You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land,to do with them as they wished. 25They captured fortified cities and fertile landand took houses full of all goods,wells already dug,vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.So they ate and were filled;they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.

26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You;they flung Your law behind their backs.They killed Your prophets,who had admonished them to return to You.They committed terrible blasphemies. 27So You delivered them into the handsof enemies who oppressed them,and in their time of distress they cried out to You.From heaven You heard them,and in Your great compassion You gave them delivererswho saved them from the hands of their enemies. 28But as soon as they had rest,they again did evil in Your sight.So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies,who had dominion over them.When they cried out to You again,You heard from heaven,and You delivered them many timesin Your compassion.

29You admonished them to turn back to Your law,but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments.They sinned against Your ordinances,by which a man will live if he practices them.They turned a stubborn shoulder;they stiffened their necks and would not obey. 30You were patient with them for many years,and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets.Yet they would not listen,so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.footnote d 31But in Your great compassion,You did not put an end to them;nor did You forsake them,for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

32So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome Godwho keeps His gracious covenant,do not view lightly all the hardshipthat has come upon us,and upon our kings and leaders,our priests and prophets,our ancestors and all Your people,from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33You are just in all that has befallen us,because You have acted faithfully,while we have acted wickedly. 34Our kings and leaders and priests and fathersdid not obey Your lawor listen to Your commandmentsand warnings that You gave them. 35For even while they were in their kingdom,with the abundant goodnessthat You had given them,and in the spacious and fertile landthat You had set before them,they would not serve Youor turn from their wicked ways.

36So here we are today as slavesin the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves! 37Its abundant harvest goes to the kingsYou have set over us because of our sins.And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please.We are in great distress.

38In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names offootnote e our leaders, Levites, and priests.”