The Book of Nehemiah

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 9 -

The people confess their sins

And in the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel have been gathered with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them;

and the seed of Israel are separated from all sons of a stranger, and stand and confess concerning their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers,

and rise up on their station, and read in the Scroll of the Law of their God YHWH a fourth of the day, and a fourth they are confessing and bowing themselves to their God YHWH.

And there stand up on the ascent, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, Chenani, and they cry with a loud voice to their God YHWH.

And the Levites say, [even] Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, “Rise, bless your God YHWH, || From age to age, || And they bless the Name of Your glory || That [is] exalted above all blessing and praise.

You [are] He, O YHWH, Yourself—You have made the heavens, || The heavens of the heavens, and all their host, || The earth and all that [are] on it, || The seas and all that [are] in them, || And You are keeping all of them alive, || And the host of the heavens are bowing themselves to You.

You [are] He, O YHWH God, || Who fixed on Abraham, || And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, || And made his name Abraham,

And found his heart steadfast before You, || So as to make with him the covenant, || To give the land of the Canaanite, || The Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, || To give [it] to his seed. And You establish Your words, || For You [are] righteous,

And see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, || And their cry have heard by the Sea of Suph,

And give signs and wonders on Pharaoh, || And on all his servants, || And on all the people of his land, || For You have known that they have acted proudly against them, || And You make to Yourself a name as [at] this day.

And You have cleaved the sea before them, || And they pass over into the midst of the sea on the dry land, || And their pursuers You have cast into the depths, || As a stone, into the strong waters.

And by a pillar of cloud You have led them by day, || And by a pillar of fire by night, || To lighten to them the way in which they go.

And on Mount Sinai You have come down, || Even to speak with them from the heavens, || And You give to them right judgments, || And true laws, good statutes and commands.

And Your holy Sabbath You have made known to them, || And commands, and statutes, and law, || You have commanded for them, || By the hand of Your servant Moses;

And bread from the heavens You have given to them for their hunger, || And water from a rock have brought out to them for their thirst, || And say to them to go in to possess the land || That You have lifted up Your hand to give to them.

And they and our fathers have acted proudly, || And harden their neck, || And have not listened to Your commands,

Indeed, they refuse to listen, || And have not remembered Your wonders that You have done with them, || And harden their neck and appoint a head, || To turn back to their service, in their rebellion; And You [are] a God of pardons, || Gracious, and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, || And have not forsaken them.

Also, when they have made to themselves a molten calf, || And say, This [is] your god || That brought you up out of Egypt, || And do great despisings,

and You, in Your abundant mercies, || Have not forsaken them in the wilderness—The pillar of the cloud has not turned aside from off them by day, || To lead them in the way, || And the pillar of the fire by night, || To give light to them and the way in which they go.

And Your good Spirit You have given, || To cause them to act wisely; And Your manna You have not withheld from their mouth, || And water You have given to them for their thirst,

And forty years You have nourished them in a wilderness; They have not lacked; Their garments have not worn out, || And their feet have not swelled.

And You give to them kingdoms, and peoples, || And apportion them to the corner, || And they possess the land of Sihon, || And the land of the king of Heshbon, || And the land of Og king of Bashan.

And You have multiplied their sons as the stars of the heavens, || And bring them into the land || That You have said to their fathers to go in to possess.

And the sons come in, and possess the land, || And You humble the inhabitants of the land—the Canaanites—before them, || And give them into their hand, and their kings, || And the peoples of the land, || To do with them according to their pleasure.

And they capture fortified cities, and fat ground, || And possess houses full of all good, || Dug-wells, vineyards, and olive-yards, || And fruit-trees in abundance, || And they eat, and are satisfied, || And become fat, || And delight themselves in Your great goodness.

And they are disobedient, || And rebel against You, || And cast Your law behind their back, || And Your prophets they have slain, || Who testified against them, || To bring them back to You, || And they do great despisings,

And You give them into the hand of their adversaries, || And they distress them, || And in the time of their distress they cry to You, || And You, from the heavens, hear, || And according to Your abundant mercies, || Give saviors to them, || And they save them out of the hand of their adversaries.

And when they have rest, || They turn back to do evil before You, || And You leave them in the hand of their enemies, || And they rule over them; And they return, and call You, || And You hear from the heavens, || And deliver them many times, || According to Your mercies,

And testify against them, || To bring them back to Your law; And they have acted proudly, || And have not listened to Your commands, || And against Your judgments have sinned—Which man does and has lived in them—And they give a stubborn shoulder, || And have hardened their neck, || And have not listened.

And You draw over them many years, || And testify against them by Your Spirit, || By the hand of Your prophets, || And they have not given ear, || And You give them into the hand of peoples of the lands,

and in Your abundant mercies || You have not made them a consumption, || Nor have forsaken them; For a God, gracious and merciful, [are] You.

And now, O our God—God, the great, the mighty, || And the fearful, || Keeping the covenant and the kindness—Do not let all the travail that has found us be little before You, || For our kings, for our heads, and for our priests, || And for our prophets, and for our fathers, || And for all Your people, || From the days of the kings of Asshur to this day;

And You [are] righteous concerning all that has come on us, || For You have done truth, || And we have done wickedly;

And our kings, our heads, || Our priests, and our fathers, || Have not done Your law, || Nor attended to Your commands, || And to Your testimonies, || That You have testified against them;

And they, in their kingdom, || And in Your abundant goodness, || That You have given to them, || And in the land, the large and the fat, || That You have set before them, || Have not served You, || Nor turned back from their evil doings.

Behold, we—today—[are] servants, || And the land that You have given to our fathers, || To eat its fruit and its good, || Behold, we [are] servants on it,

And its increase it is multiplying to the kings || Whom You have set over us || In our sins; And over our bodies they are ruling, || And over our livestock, || According to their pleasure, || And we [are] in great distress.

And for all this we are making a steadfast covenant, || And are writing, || And over him who is sealed || [Are] our heads, our Levites, [and] our priests.”

The people confess their sins

Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, with sackcloth, and dirt on them.

The offspring of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

They stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God a fourth part of the day; and a fourth part they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.

Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani of the Levites stood up on the stairs, and cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and 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, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!

You are the LORD, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you.

You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham,

found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his offspring, and have performed your words, for you are righteous.

“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea,

and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is today.

You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.

Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go.

“You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments,

and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and a law, by Moses your servant,

and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.

“But they and our fathers behaved proudly, hardened their neck, didn’t listen to your commandments,

and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them.

Yes, when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies,

yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.

You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

“Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell.

Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.

“So the children went in and possessed the land; and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they pleased.

They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.

“Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies.

Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them. In the time of their trouble, when they cried to you, you heard from heaven; and according to your manifold mercies you gave them saviors who saved them out of the hands of their adversaries.

But after they had rest, they did evil again before you; therefore you left them in the hands of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried to you, you heard from heaven; and many times you delivered them according to your mercies,

and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they were arrogant, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear.

Yet many years you put up with them, and testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not listen. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

“Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you didn’t make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness, don’t let all the travail seem little before you that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, on our prophets, on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.

However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly.

Also our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you testified against them.

For they have not served you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land which you gave before them. They didn’t turn from their wicked works.

“Behold, we are servants today, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in it.

It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have power over our bodies and over our livestock, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

Yet for all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal it.”