Nehemiah 9
New King James Version
The People Confess Their Sins
9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of (A)this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, (B)and with [a]dust on their heads. 2 Then (C)those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and (D)confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and (E)read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the [b]stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said:
“Stand up and bless the Lord your God
Forever and ever!
“Blessed be (F)Your glorious name,
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 (G)You alone are the Lord;
(H)You have made heaven,
(I)The heaven of heavens, with (J)all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You (K)preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.
7 “You are the Lord God,
Who chose (L)Abram,
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
And gave him the name (M)Abraham;
8 You found his heart (N)faithful before You,
And made a (O)covenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites,
And the Girgashites—
To give it to his descendants.
You (P)have performed Your words,
For You are righteous.
9 “You(Q) saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And (R)heard their cry by the Red Sea.
10 You (S)showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants,
And against all the people of his land.
For You knew that they (T)acted [c]proudly against them.
So You (U)made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
11 (V)And You divided the sea before them,
So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
And their persecutors You threw into the deep,
(W)As a stone into the mighty waters.
12 Moreover You (X)led them by day with a cloudy pillar,
And by night with a pillar of fire,
To give them light on the road
Which they should travel.
13 “You(Y) came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven,
And gave them (Z)just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 You made known to them Your (AA)holy Sabbath,
And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,
By the hand of Moses Your servant.
15 You (AB)gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And (AC)brought them water out of the rock for their thirst,
And told them to (AD)go in to possess the land
Which You had [d]sworn to give them.
16 “But(AE) they and our fathers acted [e]proudly,
(AF)Hardened[f] their necks,
And did not heed Your commandments.
17 They refused to obey,
And (AG)they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them.
But they hardened their necks,
And [g]in their rebellion
They appointed (AH)a leader
To return to their bondage.
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
(AI)Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.
18 “Even (AJ)when they made a molded calf for themselves,
And said, ‘This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,’
And worked great provocations,
19 Yet in Your (AK)manifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness.
The (AL)pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road;
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To show them light,
And the way they should go.
20 You also gave Your (AM)good Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your (AN)manna from their mouth,
And gave them (AO)water for their thirst.
21 (AP)Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;
They lacked nothing;
Their (AQ)clothes did not wear out
And their feet did not swell.
22 “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into [h]districts.
So they took possession of the land of (AR)Sihon,
[i]The land of the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23 You also multiplied (AS)their children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.
24 So (AT)the [j]people went in
And possessed the land;
(AU)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.
25 And they took strong cities and a (AV)rich land,
And possessed (AW)houses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And [k]fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and (AX)grew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great (AY)goodness.
26 “Nevertheless they (AZ)were disobedient
And rebelled against You,
(BA)Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your (BB)prophets, who [l]testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.
27 (BC)Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You (BD)heard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
(BE)You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.
28 “But after they had rest,
(BF)They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And (BG)many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And [m]testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted [n]proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,
(BH)‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’
And they shrugged their shoulders,
[o]Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.
30 Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And [p]testified (BI)against them by Your Spirit (BJ)in Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
(BK)Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy
(BL)You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.
32 “Now therefore, our God,
The great, the (BM)mighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the [q]trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
(BN)From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33 However (BO)You are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But (BP)we have done wickedly.
34 Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.
35 For they have (BQ)not served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.
36 “Here (BR)we are, servants today!
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!
37 And (BS)it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have (BT)dominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.
38 “And because of all this,
We (BU)make a sure covenant and write it;
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests (BV)seal it.”
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 9:1 Lit. earth on them
- Nehemiah 9:4 Lit. ascent
- Nehemiah 9:10 presumptuously or insolently
- Nehemiah 9:15 Lit. raised Your hand to
- Nehemiah 9:16 presumptuously
- Nehemiah 9:16 Stiffened their necks, became stubborn
- Nehemiah 9:17 So with MT, Vg.; LXX in Egypt
- Nehemiah 9:22 Lit. corners
- Nehemiah 9:22 So with MT, Vg.; LXX omits The land of
- Nehemiah 9:24 Lit. sons
- Nehemiah 9:25 Lit. trees for eating
- Nehemiah 9:26 admonished or warned them
- Nehemiah 9:29 admonished them
- Nehemiah 9:29 presumptuously
- Nehemiah 9:29 Became stubborn
- Nehemiah 9:30 admonished or warned them
- Nehemiah 9:32 hardship
Nehemiah 9
Christian Standard Bible
National Confession of Sin
9 On the twenty-fourth day of this month(A) the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads.(B) 2 Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners,(C) and they stood(D) and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.(E) 3 While they stood in their places,(F) they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day(G) in confession(H) and worship of the Lord their God. 4 Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the raised platform built for the Levites(I) and cried out loudly to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah(J)—said, “Stand up. Blessed be the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting.”(K)
Blessed be your glorious name,(L)
and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
6 You,[a] Lord, are the only God.[b](M)
You created the heavens,
the highest heavens with all their stars,
the earth and all that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all of them,(N)
and all the stars of heaven worship you.(O)
7 You, the Lord,
are the God who chose Abram
and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,(P)
and changed his name to Abraham.(Q)
8 You found his heart faithful in your sight,(R)
and made a covenant with him
to give the land of the Canaanites,
Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Jebusites, and Girgashites—
to give it to his descendants.(S)
You have fulfilled your promise,
for you are righteous.
9 You saw the oppression of our ancestors in Egypt(T)
and heard their cry at the Red Sea.
10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
all his officials, and all the people of his land,(U)
for you knew how arrogantly they treated our ancestors.
You made a name for yourself
that endures to this day.
11 You divided the sea before them,
and they crossed through it on dry ground.(V)
You hurled their pursuers into the depths
like a stone into raging water.(W)
12 You led them with a pillar of cloud by day,
and with a pillar of fire by night,
to illuminate the way they should go.(X)
13 You came down on Mount Sinai,(Y)
and spoke to them from heaven.
You gave them impartial ordinances, reliable instructions,
and good statutes and commands.
14 You revealed your holy Sabbath to them,
and gave them commands, statutes, and instruction
through your servant Moses.(Z)
15 You provided bread from heaven(AA) for their hunger;
you brought them water from the rock(AB) for their thirst.
You told them to go in and possess the land
you had sworn[c] to give them.(AC)
16 But our ancestors acted arrogantly;
they became stiff-necked and did not listen to your commands.
17 They refused to listen
and did not remember your wonders
you performed among them.(AD)
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
to return to their slavery in Egypt.[d](AE)
But you are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in faithful love,(AF)
and you did not abandon them.
18 Even after they had cast an image of a calf
for themselves and said,
“This is your god who brought you out of Egypt,”(AG)
and they had committed terrible blasphemies,
19 you did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.(AH)
20 You sent your good Spirit(AI) to instruct them.
You did not withhold your manna(AJ) from their mouths,
and you gave them water for their thirst.(AK)
21 You provided for them in the wilderness forty years,(AL)
and they lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.(AM)
22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples
and established boundaries for them.
They took possession
of the land of King Sihon[e] of Heshbon
and of the land of King Og of Bashan.(AN)
23 You multiplied their descendants
like the stars of the sky(AO)
and brought them to the land
you told their ancestors to go in and possess.
24 So their descendants went in and possessed the land:
You subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land before them
and handed their kings and the surrounding peoples over to them,(AP)
to do as they pleased with them.
25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land
and took possession of well-supplied houses,
cisterns cut out of rock, vineyards,
olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.(AQ)
They ate, were filled,
became prosperous, and delighted in your great goodness.
26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against you.
They flung your law behind their backs(AR)
and killed your prophets(AS)
who warned them
in order to turn them back to you.
They committed terrible blasphemies.
27 So you handed them over to their enemies,
who oppressed them.
In their time of distress, they cried out to you,
and you heard from heaven.
In your abundant compassion
you gave them deliverers, who rescued them
from the power of their enemies.
28 But as soon as they had relief,
they again did what was evil in your sight.
So you abandoned them to the power of their enemies,
who dominated them.
When they cried out to you again,
you heard from heaven and rescued them
many times in your compassion.(AT)
29 You warned them to turn back to your law,
but they acted arrogantly
and would not obey your commands.
They sinned against your ordinances,
which a person will live by if he does them.(AU)
They stubbornly resisted,[f]
stiffened their necks, and would not obey.
30 You were patient with them for many years,
and your Spirit warned them through your prophets,(AV)
but they would not listen.
Therefore, you handed them over to the surrounding peoples.(AW)
31 However, in your abundant compassion,
you did not destroy them or abandon them,(AX)
for you are a gracious and compassionate God.(AY)
32 So now, our God—the great, mighty,
and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant(AZ)—
do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us,
our kings and leaders,
our priests and prophets,
our ancestors and all your people,
from the days of the Assyrian kings(BA) until today.
33 You are righteous concerning all that has happened to us,
because you have acted faithfully,
while we have acted wickedly.(BB)
34 Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors
did not obey your law
or listen to your commands
and warnings you gave them.
35 When they were in their kingdom,
with your abundant goodness that you gave them,
and in the spacious and fertile land you set before them,(BC)
they would not serve you or turn from their wicked ways.
36 Here we are today,
slaves in the land you gave our ancestors
so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness.
Here we are—slaves in it!(BD)
37 Its abundant harvest goes to the kings
you have set over us,
because of our sins.
They rule over our bodies
and our livestock as they please.(BE)
We are in great distress.
Israel’s Vow of Faithfulness
38 In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement(BF) in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.(BG)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.