AB - Nehemiah - 9

9:1  Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel assembled with fasting, and in sackcloth, and with ashes on their head.

9:2  And the children of Israel separated themselves from every stranger, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

9:3  And they stood in their place, and read in the Book of the Law of the Lord their God; and they confessed their sins to the Lord, and worshipped the Lord their God.

9:4  And there stood upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and the sons of Kadmiel, Shebaniah the son of Sarabia, sons of Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

9:5  And the Levites, Jeshua and Kadmiel, said, Rise up, bless the Lord our God forever and ever; and let them bless Your glorious name, and exalt it with all blessing and praise.

9:6  And Ezra said, You are the only true Lord; You have made the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and everything in it, the seas, and everything in them; and You give life to all things, and the hosts of heaven worship You.

9:7  You are the Lord God, You chose Abram, and brought him out of the land of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name of Abraham.

9:8  And You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give to him and to his seed the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites; and You have confirmed Your words, for You are righteous.

9:9  And You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and You heard their cry at the Red Sea.

9:10  And You showed signs and wonders in Egypt, on Pharaoh and all his servants, and on all the people of his land; for You knew that they behaved insolently against them; and You made Yourself a name, as it is this day.

9:11  And You divided the sea before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land; and You cast them that were about to pursue them into the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters.

9:12  And You guided them by day by a pillar of cloud, and by night by a pillar of fire, to enlighten for them the way in which they should walk.

9:13  Also You came down upon Mount Sinai, and You spoke to them out of heaven, and gave them right judgments, and laws of truth, ordinances, and good commandments.

9:14  And You made known to them Your holy Sabbath; You enjoined upon them commandments, and ordinances, and a law, by the hand of Your servant Moses.

9:15  And You gave them bread from heaven for their food, and You brought them water from a rock for their thirst; and You told them to go in to inherit the land over which You stretched out Your hand to give to them.

9:16  But they and our fathers behaved proudly, and hardened their neck, and did not hearken to Your commandments,

9:17  and refused to listen, and remembered not Your wonders which You worked among them. And they hardened their neck, and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You, O God, are merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy, and You did not forsake them.

9:18  And still farther they even made for themselves a molded calf, and said, These are the gods that brought us up out of Egypt: and they worked great provocations.

9:19  Yet You in Your great mercy did not forsake them in the wilderness; You did not turn away from them the pillar of the cloud by day, to guide them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to enlighten for them the way in which they should walk.

9:20  And You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water in their thirst.

9:21  And You sustained them forty years in the wilderness; You did not allow anything to fail them. Their garments did not wear out, and their feet were not bruised.

9:22  Moreover, You gave them kingdoms, and divided nations to them; and they inherited the land of Sihon, king of Hesbron, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

9:23  And You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land of which You spoke to their fathers;

9:24  And they inherited it; and You destroyed from before them the inhabitants in the land of the Canaanites, and You gave into their hands them and their kings, and the nations of the land, to do unto them as it pleased them.

9:25  And they took lofty cities, and inherited houses full of all good things, wells already dug, vineyards and olive yards, and every fruit tree in abundance. So they ate, and were filled, and grew fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

9:26  But they turned, and revolted from You, and cast Your law behind their backs; and they killed Your prophets, who testified against them to turn them back to You, and they worked great provocations.

9:27  Then You gave them into the hand of them that afflicted them, and they did afflict them. And they cried to You in the time of their affliction, and You heard them from heaven, and in Your great mercy You gave them deliverers, and saved them from the hand of them that afflicted them.

9:28  But when they rested, they did evil again before You, so You left them in the hands of their enemies, and they ruled over them; and they cried again to You, and You heard from heaven, and delivered them in Your great mercy.

9:29  And You testified against them, to bring them back to Your law; but they hearkened not, and sinned against Your commandments and Your judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them; and they turned their back, and hardened their neck, and heard not.

9:30  Yet You had patience with them for many years, and testified to them by Your Spirit by the hand of Your prophets: but they hearkened not; so You gave them into the hand of the nations of the land.

9:31  But You in Your many mercies did not appoint them to destruction, and did not forsake them; for You are strong, and merciful, and compassionate.

9:32  And now, O our God, the powerful, the great, the mighty, and the terrible, keeping Your covenant and Your mercy, let not all this trouble seem little in Your sight which has come upon us, and our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and upon all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria even to this day.

9:33  For You are righteous in all the things that come upon us; and You have dealt faithfully, but we have greatly sinned.

9:34  And our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our fathers, have not performed Your law, and have not given heed to Your commandments, and have not kept Your testimonies which You testified to them.

9:35  And they did not serve You in Your kingdom, and in Your great goodness which You gave to them, and in the large and fat land which You furnished before them, and they turned not from their evil devices.

9:36  Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land which You gave to our fathers, to eat the fruit of it and the good things of it, behold, we are servants upon it;

9:37  and its produce is abundant for the kings whom You appointed over us because of our sins; and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, as it pleases them, and we are in great affliction.

9:38  And in regard to all these circumstances we make a covenant, and write it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, set their seal to it.