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Nehemiah 1
Legacy Standard Bible

Nehemiah Prays for the Sons of Israel

1 The words of (A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in (B)the month Chislev, (C)in the twentieth year—and I was in (D)Susa the [a]capitol— 2 that (E)Hanani, one of my brothers, and [b]some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and remain from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the (F)province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and (G)reproach, and (H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and (I)its gates are burned with fire.”

4 Now it happened that when I heard these words, (J)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before (K)the God of heaven. 5 I said, “I beseech You, O [c]Yahweh, the God of heaven, (L)the great and fearsome God, (M)who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 (N)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your slave which I am praying before You today, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your slaves, (O)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; (P)I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 (Q)We have worked in utter destruction against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments (R)which You commanded Your [d]servant Moses. 8 Remember the word which You commanded Your [e]servant Moses, saying, ‘(S)If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 (T)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been banished were at the ends of the sky, I (U)will gather them from there and will bring them (V)to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 10 (W)They are Your slaves and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech You, (X)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your slave and the prayer of Your slaves who delight to fear Your name, and make Your slave successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”

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

Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 1:1 Or palace, citadel
  2. Nehemiah 1:2 Lit he and some
  3. Nehemiah 1:5 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
  4. Nehemiah 1:7 Or slave, cf. 1:6; see Foreword, “The Terminology of Slave”
  5. Nehemiah 1:8 Or slave, cf. 1:6; see Foreword, “The Terminology of Slave”
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Nehemiah 1
New English Translation

A Prayer of Nehemiah

1 [a] These are the words of Nehemiah[b] son of Hacaliah:

It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year,[c] I was in Susa[d] the citadel. 2 Hanani, who was one of my relatives,[e] along with some of the men from Judah, came to me,[f] and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “The remnant that remains from the exile there in the province are experiencing considerable[g] adversity and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem lies breached, and its gates have been burned down!”[h]

4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly,[i] crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said, “Please, O Lord God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant[j] with those who love him and obey[k] his commandments, 6 may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed[l] against you—both I myself and my family[m] have sinned. 7 We have behaved corruptly against you, not obeying the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations.[n] 9 But if you repent[o] and obey[p] my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location,[q] I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your mighty strength and by your powerful hand. 11 Please,[r] Lord, listen attentively[s] to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect to[t] your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me[u] in the presence of this man.”

Now[v] I was cupbearer for the king.

Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 1:1 sn In ancient Judaism Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as a single book with dual authorship. According to the Talmud, “Ezra wrote his book” (b. Bava Batra 15a). The Gemara then asks and answers, “And who finished it? Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.” Accordingly, the two are joined in the Leningrad Codex (ca. a.d. 1008), the manuscript upon which modern printed editions of the Hebrew Bible (e.g., BHK and BHS) are based.
  2. Nehemiah 1:1 sn The name Nehemiah in Hebrew (נְחֶמְיָה, nekhemyah) means “the Lord comforts.”
  3. Nehemiah 1:1 tn That is, the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign (cf. 2:1).
  4. Nehemiah 1:1 tn Heb “Shushan.”
  5. Nehemiah 1:2 tn Heb “brothers.”
  6. Nehemiah 1:2 tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “to me”; these words were supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
  7. Nehemiah 1:3 tn Heb “great.”
  8. Nehemiah 1:3 tn Heb “have been burned with fire” (so also in Neh 2:17). The expression “burned with fire” is redundant in contemporary English; the translation uses “burned down” for stylistic reasons.
  9. Nehemiah 1:4 tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.
  10. Nehemiah 1:5 tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The phrase is a hendiadys: the first noun retains its full nominal sense, while the second noun functions adjectivally (“loyal love” = loving). Alternately, the first might function adjectivally and the second noun function as the noun: “covenant and loyal love” = covenant fidelity (see Neh 9:32).
  11. Nehemiah 1:5 tn Heb “keep.” The Hebrew verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to observe; to keep”) is often used as an idiom that means “to obey” the commandments of God (e.g., Exod 20:6; Deut 5:16; 23:24; 29:8; Judg 2:22; 1 Kgs 2:43; 11:11; Ps 119:8, 17, 34; Jer 35:18; Ezek 17:14; Amos 2:4). See BDB 1036 s.v. 3.c.
  12. Nehemiah 1:6 tn Heb “have sinned.” For stylistic reasons—to avoid redundancy in English—this was translated as “committed.”
  13. Nehemiah 1:6 tn Heb “the house of my father.”
  14. Nehemiah 1:8 tn Heb “peoples.”
  15. Nehemiah 1:9 tn Heb “turn to me.”
  16. Nehemiah 1:9 tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.
  17. Nehemiah 1:9 tn Heb “at the end of the heavens.”
  18. Nehemiah 1:11 tn The interjection אָנָּא (ʾannaʾ) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).
  19. Nehemiah 1:11 tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”
  20. Nehemiah 1:11 tn Heb “fear.”
  21. Nehemiah 1:11 tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.
  22. Nehemiah 1:11 tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (vaʾani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.
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Ezra 10
Nehemiah 2
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