Neh 9 | NASB2020 | 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 they stood and ^fconfessed their sins and the wrongdoings 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 out 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!

May Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 “ ⁱYou alone are the Lord.
^jYou have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their ^{▼▼Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.}lights,
The earth and everything that is on it,
The seas and everything that is in them.
^lYou give life to all of them,
And the heavenly ^{▼▼Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.}lights bow down before You.
7 “You are the Lord God,
ⁿWho chose Abram
And brought him out from ^oUr of the Chaldees,
And ^pgave him the name Abraham.
8 “You found ^qhis 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 ^shave fulfilled Your ^{▼▼Lit words}promise,
Because You are righteous.

9 “ ^uYou saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And ^vheard their cry by the ^{▼▼Lit Sea of Reeds}Red Sea.
10 “Then You performed ^xsigns and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that ^ythey acted arrogantly toward them,
And You ^zmade a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 “ ^aaYou divided the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground;
And You hurled ^abtheir pursuers into the depths,
Like a stone into ^{▼▼Lit strong, mighty}raging waters.
12 “And with a pillar of cloud ^adYou 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 ^aeYou came down on Mount Sinai,
And ^afspoke with them from heaven;
You gave them ^agjust ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 “So You made known to them ^ahYour holy Sabbath,
And gave them commandments, statutes, and law,
Through Your servant Moses.
15 “You ^aiprovided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You ^ajbrought out water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You ^aktold them to enter in order to take possession of
The land which You ^{▼▼Lit lifted up Your hand}swore to give them.

16 “But they, our fathers, ^amacted arrogantly;
They ^{▼▼Lit stiffened their neck; so also v 17
,} ^aobecame stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 “They refused to listen,
And ^apdid not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them;
So they became stubborn and ^aqappointed a leader to return to their slavery in ^{▼▼As in LXX and some Heb mss; MT their rebellion}Egypt.
But You are a God ^asof forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in ^{▼▼Or faithfulness}mercy;
And You did not abandon them.
18 “Even when they ^aumade for themselves
A calf of cast metal
And said, ‘This is your ^{▼▼Or God; i.e., an idol intended to represent God}god
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great blasphemies,
19 ^awYou, in Your great compassion,
Did not abandon them in the wilderness;
^axThe 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 “Instead, ^ayYou gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 “Indeed, for ^azforty 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.
22 “You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And allotted them to them as a ^{▼▼Lit side, corner}boundary.
^bbThey took possession of the land of Sihon ^{▼▼As in LXX and Lat; MT 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 as numerous as ^bdthe stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24 “ ^beSo their sons entered and took possession of the land.
And ^bfYou 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 ^{▼▼Lit according to their desire}as they desired.
25 “ ^bhThey captured fortified cities and a ^{▼▼Lit fat
,} ^bjfertile land.
They took possession of ^bkhouses full of every good thing,
Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate, were filled and ^blput on fat,
And ^bmlived luxuriously in Your great goodness.

26 “ ^bnBut they became rebellious and revolted against You,
And ^bothrew Your Law behind their backs
And ^bpkilled Your prophets who had ^bqadmonished them
In order to bring them back to You,
And ^brthey committed great blasphemies.
27 “Therefore You ^bshanded them over to their enemies who oppressed them,
But when they cried out to You ^btin the time of their distress,
You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion
You ^bugave them ^{▼▼Lit deliverers}people who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
28 “But ^bwas 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 ^bxmany times You rescued them according to Your compassion,
29 And ^byadmonished them in order to turn them back to Your Law.
Yet ^bzthey acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances,
^caWhich, if a person ^{▼▼Lit does them}follows them, then he will live by them.
And they ^{▼▼Lit gave
,} ^cdturned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 “ ^ceHowever, You remained patient with them for many years,
And ^cfadmonished them by ^cgYour Spirit through Your prophets,
Yet they would not listen.
Therefore You handed them over to the peoples of the lands.
31 “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You ^chdid not make an end of them or abandon them,
For You are ^cia gracious and compassionate God.

32 “Now then, our God, ^cjthe 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,
^ckFrom the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 “However, ^clYou are righteous in everything that has happened to 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 testified to}admonished them.
35 “But ^cothey, in their own kingdom,
^cpWith 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.
36 “Behold, ^cqwe 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.
37 “And ^crits 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
^ctWe are making an agreement in writing;
And on the ^cusealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites, and our priests.”