Neh 9 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting , in sackcloth and with dirt upon them.

Nehemiah 9

The People Confess Their Sin

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of ^athis month the sons of Israel assembled ^bwith fasting, in sackcloth and with ^cdirt upon them. 2 The ^{▼▼ Lit seed
,} ^edescendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and ^fconfessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 While ^gthey 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. 4 ^hNow on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 ⁱ“You alone are the Lord.
^jYou have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host,
The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them.
^kYou give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down before You.
7 “You are the Lord God,
^lWho chose Abram
And brought him out from ^mUr of the Chaldees,
And ⁿgave him the name Abraham.
8 “You found ^ohis 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 ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants.
And You ^qhave fulfilled Your promise,
For You are righteous.

9 ^r“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And ^sheard their cry by the ^{▼▼ Lit Sea of Reeds}Red Sea.
10 “Then You performed ^usigns and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that ^vthey acted arrogantly toward them,
And ^wmade a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 ^x“You divided the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground;
And ^ytheir pursuers You hurled into the depths,
Like a stone into ^{▼▼ Lit strong, mighty}raging waters.
12 “And with a pillar of cloud ^aaYou led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light for them the way
In which they were to go.
13 “Then ^abYou came down on Mount Sinai,
And ^acspoke with them from heaven;
You gave them ^adjust ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 “So You made known to them ^aeYour holy sabbath,
And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law,
Through Your servant Moses.
15 “You ^afprovided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You ^agbrought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You ^ahtold them to enter in order to possess
The land which You ^{▼▼ Lit lifted up Your hand}swore to give them.

16 “But they, our fathers, ^ajacted arrogantly;
They ^{▼▼ Lit stiffened their neck; so also v 17
,} ^albecame stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 “They refused to listen,
And ^amdid not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them;
So they became stubborn and ^anappointed a leader to return to their slavery ^{▼▼ So Gr and some Heb mss; Heb reads in their rebellion}in Egypt.
But You are a God ^apof forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
18 “Even when they ^aqmade for themselves
A calf of molten metal
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great ^{▼▼ Lit acts of contempt}blasphemies,
19 ^asYou, in Your great compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
^atThe 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.
20 ^au“You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 “Indeed, ^avforty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
22 “You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And allotted them to them as a ^{▼▼ Lit side, corner}boundary.
^axThey took possession of the land of Sihon ^{▼▼ So the Gr and the Latin; Heb reads and the land of the king of Heshbon}the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23 “You made their sons numerous as ^azthe stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24 ^ba“So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And ^bbYou subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them ^{▼▼ Lit according to their desire}as they desired.
25 ^bd“They captured fortified cities and a ^{▼▼ Lit fat
,} ^bffertile land.
They took possession of ^bghouses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate, were filled and ^bhgrew fat,
And ^bireveled in Your great goodness.

26 ^bj“But they became disobedient and rebelled against You,
And ^bkcast Your law behind their backs
And ^blkilled Your prophets who had ^bmadmonished them
So that they might return to You,
And ^bnthey committed great ^{▼▼ Lit acts of contempt}blasphemies.
27 “Therefore You ^bpdelivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them,
But when they cried to You ^bqin the time of their distress,
You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion
You ^brgave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.
28 “But ^bsas 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 again to You, You heard from heaven,
And ^btmany times You rescued them according to Your compassion,
29 And ^buadmonished them in order to turn them back to Your law.
Yet ^bvthey acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances,
By ^bwwhich if a man observes them he shall live.
And they ^{▼▼ Lit gave
,} ^byturned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 ^bz“However, You bore with them for many years,
And ^caadmonished them by ^cbYour Spirit through Your prophets,
Yet they would not give ear.
Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You ^ccdid not make an end of them or forsake them,
For You are ^cda gracious and compassionate God.

32 “Now therefore, our God, ^cethe great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,
^cfFrom the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 “However, ^cgYou are just in all that has come upon us;
For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
34 “For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law
Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your ^{▼▼ Lit testimonies}admonitions with which You have ^{▼▼ Or witnessed}admonished them.
35 “But ^cjthey, in their own kingdom,
^ckWith Your great goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You set before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.
36 “Behold, ^clwe are slaves today,
And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty,
Behold, we are slaves in it.
37 ^cm“Its 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 ^{▼▼ Ch 10:1 in Heb}“Now because of all this
^coWe are making an agreement in writing;
And on the ^cpsealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.”