Now when I heard these words, (A)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before (B)the God of heaven. I said, “Please, Lord God of heaven, (C)the great and awesome God, (D)who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments: (E)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, (F)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; (G)I and my father’s house have sinned. (H)We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances (I)which You commanded Your servant Moses. Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘(J)If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; (K)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I (L)will gather them from there and bring them (M)to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’ 10 (N)They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 Please, Lord, (O)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [a]revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.”

Now I was the (P)cupbearer to the king.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 1:11 Or fear

When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said,

“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.

“Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth,[a] I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’

10 “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me.[b] Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”

In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:9 Hebrew of the heavens.
  2. 1:11 Hebrew today in the sight of this man.