Nehemiah 9:5-25

New International Version

“Blessed be your glorious name,^(B) and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. ⁶ You alone are the Lord.^(C) You made the heavens,^(D) even the highest heavens, and all their starry host,^(E) the earth^(F) and all that is on it, the seas^(G) and all that is in them.^(H) You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven^(I) worship you.

⁷ “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram^(J) and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans^(K) and named him Abraham.^{(L) 8} You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites.^(M) You have kept your promise^(N) because you are righteous.^(O)

⁹ “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt;^(P) you heard their cry at the Red Sea.^{[b](Q) 10} You sent signs^(R) and wonders^(S) against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name^(T) for yourself,^(U) which remains to this day. ¹¹ You divided the sea before them,^(V) so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths,^(W) like a stone into mighty waters.^{(X) 12} By day^(Y) you led^(Z) them with a pillar of cloud,^(AA) and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

¹³ “You came down on Mount Sinai;^(AB) you spoke^(AC) to them from heaven.^(AD) You gave them regulations and laws that are just^(AE) and right, and decrees and commands that are good.^{(AF) 14} You made known to them your holy Sabbath^(AG) and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. ¹⁵ In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven^(AH) and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock;^(AI) you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand^(AJ) to give them.^(AK)

¹⁶ “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked,^(AL) and they did not obey your commands.^{(AM) 17} They refused to listen and failed to remember^(AN) the miracles^(AO) you performed among them. They became stiff-necked^(AP) and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery.^(AQ) But you are a forgiving God,^(AR) gracious and compassionate,^(AS) slow to anger^(AT) and abounding in love.^(AU) Therefore you did not desert them,^{(AV) 18} even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf^(AW) and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.^(AX)

¹⁹ “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon^(AY) them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud^(AZ) did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. ²⁰ You gave your good Spirit^(BA) to instruct^(BB) them. You did not withhold your manna^(BC) from their mouths, and you gave them water^(BD) for their thirst. ²¹ For forty years^(BE) you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing,^(BF) their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.^(BG)

²² “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon^[c](BH) king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan.^{(BI) 23} You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky,^(BJ) and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. ²⁴ Their children went in and took possession of the land.^(BK) You subdued^(BL) before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. ²⁵ They captured fortified cities and fertile land;^(BM) they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things,^(BN) wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished;^(BO) they reveled in your great goodness.^(BP)