Nehemiah 1
New American Standard Bible
Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles
1 The words of (A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in (B)the month Chislev, (C)in the twentieth year, while I was in (D)Susa the [a]capitol, 2 that (E)Hanani, one of my brothers, [b]and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped [c]and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the (F)province who survived the captivity are in great distress and (G)disgrace, and (H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and (I)its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 Now 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, “Please, Lord God of heaven, (L)the great and awesome God, (M)who keeps the covenant and faithfulness 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 servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, (O)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; (P)I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 (Q)We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances (R)which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your 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 scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I (U)will gather them from there and bring them (V)to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’ 10 (W)They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 Please, Lord, (X)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [d]revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.”
Now I was the (Y)cupbearer to the king.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 1:1 Or acropolis
- Nehemiah 1:2 Lit he and men
- Nehemiah 1:2 Lit who survived
- Nehemiah 1:11 Or fear
Nehemiah 1
International Standard Version
Introduction
1 In this document, I,[a] Hacaliah’s son Nehemiah, recount[b] what occurred during the twentieth year of Artaxerxes.[c]
Background
In the month of Chislev,[d] while I was in Shushan at the palace, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, about those who had survived the Babylonian[e] captivity, and about Jerusalem.
3 They told me, “The survivors of the captivity there in the province are living in great distress and shame. Furthermore, the Jerusalem wall remains broken down and its gates have been burned by fire.”
Nehemiah’s Prayer
4 When I heard this, I sat down and cried, mourning for a number of days while I fasted and prayed in the presence of the God of Heaven. 5 I said, “Please, Lord, God of Heaven, the great and fearsome God who keeps the covenant, showing[f] gracious love to those who love you and keep your commands, 6 please turn your attention to observe carefully and listen to the prayer of your servant today that I am presenting to you day and night on behalf of your servants, the Israelis.
“I confess the sins that we Israelis have committed against you. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have abandoned you by not keeping your commands, your ceremonies, and your judgments that you proscribed to your servant Moses. 8 Please remember what you spoke in commanding your servant Moses. You said,
‘If you rebel, I will scatter you among the nations[g] 9 but if you return to me, keeping my commands and doing them, even if your exiled people are in the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to establish my Name.’[h]
10 These are your servants as well as your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
11 “And now, Lord, I ask you to listen to the prayer of your servant—and to the prayers of your servants who delight in revering your Name. I ask you, please prosper your servant today by granting him to receive favor from this man.”[i]
Now I was the king’s senior security advisor.[j]
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 1:1 Lit. The words of
- Nehemiah 1:1 The Heb. lacks recount
- Nehemiah 1:1 The Heb. lacks of Artaxerxes; cf. 2:1
- Nehemiah 1:1 I.e. about 445-444 BC
- Nehemiah 1:2 The Heb. lacks Babylonian
- Nehemiah 1:5 The Heb. lacks showing
- Nehemiah 1:8 Lit. people
- Nehemiah 1:9 Cf. Deut 30:1-5
- Nehemiah 1:11 I.e. King Artaxerxes
- Nehemiah 1:11 Lit. king’s cupbearer; a servant who tested the king’s food and beverages for poison; cf. Gen 41:9
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