Nehemiah 9:1-17
New American Standard Bible 1995
The People Confess Their Sin
9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of (A)this month the sons of Israel assembled (B)with fasting, in sackcloth and with (C)dirt upon them. 2 The [a](D)descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and (E)confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 While (F)they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 (G)Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever!
O may Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 “(H)You alone are the Lord.
(I)You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host,
The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them.
(J)You give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down before You.
7 “You are the Lord God,
(K)Who chose Abram
And brought him out from (L)Ur of the Chaldees,
And (M)gave him the name Abraham.
8 “You found (N)his heart faithful before You,
And made a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite and the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—
To give it to his [b]descendants.
And You (O)have fulfilled Your promise,
For You are righteous.
9 “(P)You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And (Q)heard their cry by the [c]Red Sea.
10 “Then You performed (R)signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that (S)they acted arrogantly toward them,
And (T)made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 “(U)You divided the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground;
And (V)their pursuers You hurled into the depths,
Like a stone into [d]raging waters.
12 “And with a pillar of cloud (W)You led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light for them the way
In which they were to go.
13 “Then (X)You came down on Mount Sinai,
And (Y)spoke with them from heaven;
You gave them (Z)just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 “So You made known to them (AA)Your holy sabbath,
And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law,
Through Your servant Moses.
15 “You (AB)provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You (AC)brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You (AD)told them to enter in order to possess
The land which You [e]swore to give them.
16 “But they, our fathers, (AE)acted arrogantly;
They [f](AF)became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 “They refused to listen,
And (AG)did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them;
So they became stubborn and (AH)appointed a leader to return to their slavery [g]in Egypt.
But You are a God (AI)of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 9:2 Lit seed
- Nehemiah 9:8 Lit seed
- Nehemiah 9:9 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Nehemiah 9:11 Lit strong, mighty
- Nehemiah 9:15 Lit lifted up Your hand
- Nehemiah 9:16 Lit stiffened their neck; so also v 17
- Nehemiah 9:17 So Gr and some Heb mss; Heb reads in their rebellion
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
