Nehemiah 9:6-37
Legacy Standard Bible
6 (A)You alone are Yahweh.
(B)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.
(C)You give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down to You.
7 You are Yahweh God,
(D)Who chose Abram
And brought him out from (E)Ur of the Chaldees,
And (F)gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found (G)his heart faithful before You,
And cut 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 seed.
And You (H)have established Your promise,
For You are righteous.
9 “(I)You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And (J)heard their cry by the [a]Red Sea.
10 Then You performed (K)signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that (L)they acted presumptuously toward them,
And (M)made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 (N)You split the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;
And (O)their pursuers You cast into the depths,
Like a stone into mighty waters.
12 And with a pillar of cloud (P)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 (Q)You came down on Mount Sinai,
And (R)spoke with them from heaven;
You gave them (S)upright judgments and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 So You made known to them (T)Your holy sabbath,
And commanded to them commandments, statutes and law,
By the hand of Your servant Moses.
15 You (U)gave bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You (V)brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You (W)said to them to enter in order to possess
The land which You [b]swore to give them.
16 “But they, our fathers, (X)acted presumptuously;
They [c](Y)became stiff-necked and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And (Z)did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them;
So they became stiff-necked and (AA)gave themselves a chief to return to their slavery [d]in Egypt.
But You are a God (AB)of lavish forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
18 Even when they (AC)made for themselves
A molten calf
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And [e]committed great [f]blasphemies,
19 (AD)But You, in Your abundant compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
(AE)The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To light for them the way in which they were to go.
20 (AF)You gave Your good Spirit to give them insight,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 Indeed, (AG)forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they did not lack;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
22 You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And apportioned them to them as a [g]boundary.
(AH)They took possession of the land of Sihon [h]the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23 You made their sons numerous as (AI)the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had said for their fathers to enter and possess.
24 (AJ)So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And (AK)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them according to their desire.
25 (AL)They captured fortified cities and a [i](AM)rich [j]land.
They took possession of (AN)houses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Trees for food in abundance.
So they ate, were filled, and (AO)grew fat,
And (AP)reveled in Your great goodness.
26 “(AQ)But they became disobedient and rebelled against You,
And (AR)cast Your law behind their backs
And (AS)killed Your prophets who had (AT)testified to them
So that they might return to You,
And (AU)they [k]committed great [l]blasphemies.
27 Therefore You (AV)gave them into the hand of the ones who distressed them, and they afflicted them with distress,
But (AW)at the time of their distress they cried to You,
And You listened from heaven, and according to Your abundant compassion
You (AX)gave them saviors and they saved them from the hand of the ones that distressed them.
28 But (AY)as soon as they had rest, they returned to do evil before You;
Therefore You forsook them in the hand of their enemies, so they had dominion over them.
Then they returned and cried to You. And You listened from heaven,
And (AZ)many times You delivered them according to Your compassion,
29 And (BA)testified to them in order to turn them back to Your law.
Yet (BB)they acted presumptuously and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your judgments,
By (BC)which if a man does them, he shall live.
And they (BD)gave a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 (BE)However, You bore with them for many years,
And (BF)testified to them by (BG)Your Spirit by the hand of Your prophets,
Yet they would not give ear.
So You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless, in Your abundant compassion You (BH)did not make a complete destruction of them or forsake them,
For You are (BI)a gracious and compassionate God.
32 “So now, our God, (BJ)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has found us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all Your people,
(BK)From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 However, (BL)You are righteous in all that has come upon us;
For You have dealt in truth, but we have acted wickedly.
34 Now our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers did not do Your law
Or pay attention to Your commandments and Your testimonies with which You testified against them.
35 But (BM)they, in their own kingdom,
(BN)With Your abundant goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You set before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.
36 Behold, (BO)we are slaves today,
And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its goodness,
Behold, we are slaves in it.
37 (BP)Its abundant produce is for the kings
Whom You have put over us because of our sins;
They also rule over our bodies
And over our cattle according to their desire,
So we are in great distress.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 9:9 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Nehemiah 9:15 Lit lifted up Your hand
- Nehemiah 9:16 Lit stiffened their neck, so also v 17
- Nehemiah 9:17 As in Gr and some Heb mss; Heb in their rebellion
- Nehemiah 9:18 Lit did
- Nehemiah 9:18 Lit acts of contempt
- Nehemiah 9:22 Lit side, corner
- Nehemiah 9:22 As in Gr and Lat; Heb and the land of the king of Heshbon
- Nehemiah 9:25 Lit fat
- Nehemiah 9:25 Or ground
- Nehemiah 9:26 Lit did
- Nehemiah 9:26 Lit acts of contempt
Nehemiah 9:6-37
English Standard Version
6 [a] (A)“You are the Lord, you alone. (B)You have made heaven, (C)the heaven of heavens, (D)with all their host, (E)the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; (F)and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God (G)who chose Abram and brought him out of (H)Ur of the Chaldeans (I)and gave him the name Abraham. 8 (J)You found his heart faithful before you, (K)and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring (L)the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. (M)And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.
9 (N)“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard (O)their cry at the Red Sea, 10 (P)and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that (Q)they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And (R)you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 (S)And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, (T)as a stone into mighty waters. 12 By (U)a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. 13 (V)You came down on Mount Sinai (W)and spoke with them from heaven and gave them (X)right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 (Y)and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15 (Z)You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and (AA)brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you (AB)told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.
16 “But they and our fathers (AC)acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey (AD)and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.[b] But you are a God ready to forgive, (AE)gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even (AF)when they had made for themselves a golden[c] calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ (AG)and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you (AH)in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. (AI)The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, (AJ)nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 (AK)You gave your good Spirit to instruct them (AL)and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 (AM)Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
22 “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. (AN)So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon (AO)and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their children (AP)as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 (AQ)So the descendants went in and possessed the land, (AR)and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. 25 And they captured (AS)fortified cities and (AT)a rich land, and took possession of (AU)houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled (AV)and became fat and delighted themselves in (AW)your great goodness.
26 (AX)“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you (AY)and cast your law behind their back (AZ)and killed your prophets, who (BA)had warned them in order to turn them back to you, (BB)and they committed great blasphemies. 27 (BC)Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. (BD)And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them (BE)saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28 (BF)But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, (BG)and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29 (BH)And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet (BI)they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, (BJ)which if a person does them, he shall live by them, (BK)and they turned a stubborn shoulder (BL)and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years (BM)you bore with them (BN)and warned them (BO)by your Spirit through your prophets. (BP)Yet they would not give ear. (BQ)Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, (BR)in your great mercies (BS)you did not make an end of them or forsake them, (BT)for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32 “Now, therefore, our God, (BU)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, (BV)since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 (BW)Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully (BX)and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, (BY)and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and (BZ)rich land that you set before them, (CA)they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, (CB)we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 (CC)And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Nehemiah 9:6 Septuagint adds And Ezra said
- Nehemiah 9:17 Some Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return to their slavery
- Nehemiah 9:18 Hebrew metal
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
