Nehemiah 9:1-21

Holman Christian Standard Bible

National Confession of Sin

9 On the twenty-fourth day of this month^(A) the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads.^(B) ²Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners,^(C) and they stood^(D) and confessed their sins and the guilt of their fathers.^(E) ³While they stood in their places,^(F) they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day^(G) in confession^(H) and worship of the Lord their God. ⁴Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the raised platform built for the Levites^(I) and cried out loudly to the Lord their God. ⁵Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah^(J)—said, “Stand up. Praise Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting.”^(K)

Praise Your glorious name,^(L)
and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
⁶You^[a] alone are Yahweh.^(M)
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 of them,^(N)
and the heavenly host worships You.^(O)
⁷You are Yahweh,
the God who chose Abram
and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,^(P)
and changed his name to Abraham.^(Q)
⁸You found his heart faithful in Your sight,^(R)
and made a covenant with him
to give the land of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Jebusites, and Girgashites—
to give it to his descendants.^(S)
You have kept Your promise,
for You are righteous.

⁹You saw the oppression of our ancestors in Egypt^(T)
and heard their cry at the Red Sea.
¹⁰You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
all his officials, and all the people of his land,^(U)
for You knew how arrogantly they treated our ancestors.
You made a name for Yourself
that endures to this day.
¹¹You divided the sea before them,
and they crossed through it on dry ground.^(V)
You hurled their pursuers into the depths
like a stone into churning waters.^(W)
¹²You led them with a pillar of cloud by day,
and with a pillar of fire by night,
to illuminate the way they should go.^(X)
¹³You came down on Mount Sinai,^(Y)
and spoke to them from heaven.
You gave them impartial ordinances, reliable instructions,
and good statutes and commands.
¹⁴You revealed Your holy Sabbath to them,
and gave them commands, statutes, and instruction
through Your servant Moses.^(Z)
¹⁵You provided bread from heaven^(AA) for their hunger;
You brought them water from the rock^(AB) for their thirst.
You told them to go in and possess the land
You had sworn^[b] to give them.^(AC)

¹⁶But our ancestors acted arrogantly;
they became stiff-necked and did not listen to Your commands.
¹⁷They refused to listen
and did not remember Your wonders
You performed among them.^(AD)
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
to return to their slavery in Egypt.^[c]^(AE)
But You are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love,^(AF)
and You did not abandon them.
¹⁸Even after they had cast an image of a calf
for themselves and said,
“This is your God who brought you out of Egypt,”^(AG)
and they had committed terrible blasphemies,
¹⁹You did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of Your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.^(AH)
²⁰You sent Your good Spirit^(AI) to instruct them.
You did not withhold Your manna^(AJ) from their mouths,
and You gave them water for their thirst.^(AK)
²¹You provided for them in the wilderness 40 years^(AL)
and they lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.^(AM)