Nehemiah 9:36-38

The Voice

³⁶     And we are once again slaves in the bountiful land
        You gave to our ancestors for our pleasure and enjoyment—
        we are slaves in our own land!
³⁷     We have sown sin, and the labor we provide on this land feeds the kings You have placed over us.
        Our bodies and our beasts do not belong to us,
    But to them, and they do with us what they want.
        Our distress is great.
³⁸     In light of it, we are writing a covenantal agreement.
    It is sealed with the names of our leaders, our Levites, and our priests.