Nehemiah 9:6-37
New American Standard Bible
6 (A)You alone are the Lord.
(B)You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their [a]lights,
The earth and everything that is on it,
The seas and everything that is in them.
(C)You give life to all of them,
And the heavenly [b]lights bow down before You.
7 You are the Lord 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 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 [c]descendants.
And You (H)have fulfilled Your [d]promise,
Because You are righteous.
9 “(I)You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And (J)heard their cry by the [e]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 arrogantly toward them,
And You (M)made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 (N)You divided the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground;
And You hurled (O)their pursuers into the depths,
Like a stone into [f]raging 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)just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 So You made known to them (T)Your holy Sabbath,
And gave them commandments, statutes, and law,
Through Your servant Moses.
15 You (U)provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You (V)brought out water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You (W)told them to enter in order to take possession of
The land which You [g]swore to give them.
16 “But they, our fathers, (X)acted arrogantly;
They [h](Y)became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And (Z)did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them;
So they became stubborn and (AA)appointed a leader to return to their slavery in [i]Egypt.
But You are a God (AB)of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in [j]mercy;
And You did not abandon them.
18 Even when they (AC)made for themselves
A calf of cast metal
And said, ‘This is your [k]god
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great blasphemies,
19 (AD)You, in Your great compassion,
Did not abandon them in the wilderness;
(AE)The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
To guide them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.
20 Instead, (AF)You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 Indeed, for (AG)forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not lacking;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell up.
22 You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And allotted them to them as a [l]boundary.
(AH)They took possession of the land of Sihon [m]the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23 You made their sons as numerous as (AI)the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24 (AJ)So their sons entered and took possession of the land.
And (AK)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You handed them over to them, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them [n]as they desired.
25 (AL)They captured fortified cities and a [o](AM)fertile land.
They took possession of (AN)houses full of every good thing,
Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate, were filled and (AO)put on fat,
And (AP)lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.
26 “(AQ)But they became rebellious and revolted against You,
And (AR)threw Your Law behind their backs
And (AS)killed Your prophets who had (AT)admonished them
In order to bring them back to You,
And (AU)they committed great blasphemies.
27 Therefore You (AV)handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them,
But when they cried out to You (AW)in the time of their distress,
You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion
You (AX)gave them [p]people who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
28 But (AY)as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You;
Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them.
When they cried out again to You, You heard from heaven,
And (AZ)many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,
29 And (BA)admonished them in order to turn them back to Your Law.
Yet (BB)they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances,
(BC)Which, if a person [q]follows them, then he will live by them.
And they [r](BD)turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 (BE)However, You remained patient with them for many years,
And (BF)admonished them by (BG)Your Spirit through Your prophets,
Yet they would not listen.
Therefore You handed them over to the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You (BH)did not make an end of them or abandon them,
For You are (BI)a gracious and compassionate God.
32 “Now then, our God, (BJ)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has happened to us, our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and to all Your people,
(BK)From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 However, (BL)You are righteous in everything that has happened to us;
For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
34 For our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your Law
Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your [s]admonitions with which You have [t]admonished them.
35 But (BM)they, in their own kingdom,
(BN)With Your great goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You placed before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.
36 Behold, (BO)we are slaves today,
And as for the land which You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its bounty,
Behold, we are slaves on it.
37 And (BP)its abundant produce is for the kings
Whom You have set over us because of our sins;
They also rule over our bodies
And over our cattle as they please,
So we are in great distress.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 9:6 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
- Nehemiah 9:6 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
- Nehemiah 9:8 Lit seed
- Nehemiah 9:8 Lit words
- 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 As in LXX and some Heb mss; MT their rebellion
- Nehemiah 9:17 Or faithfulness
- Nehemiah 9:18 Or God; i.e., an idol intended to represent God
- Nehemiah 9:22 Lit side, corner
- Nehemiah 9:22 As in LXX and Lat; MT and the land of the king of Heshbon
- Nehemiah 9:24 Lit according to their desire
- Nehemiah 9:25 Lit fat
- Nehemiah 9:27 Lit deliverers
- Nehemiah 9:29 Lit does them
- Nehemiah 9:29 Lit gave
- Nehemiah 9:34 Lit testimonies
- Nehemiah 9:34 Or testified to
Nehemiah 9:6-37
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 And Ezra said,[a] “You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you.(A) 7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham;(B) 8 and you found his heart faithful before you and made with him a covenant to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, and you have fulfilled your promise, for you are righteous.(C)
9 “And you saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea.[b](D) 10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted insolently against our ancestors. You made a name for yourself that remains to this day.(E) 11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they passed through the sea on dry land, but you threw their pursuers into the depths like a stone into mighty waters.(F) 12 Moreover, you led them by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the way in which they should go.(G) 13 You came down also upon Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments,(H) 14 and you made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments and statutes and a law through Moses your servant.(I) 15 For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, and for their thirst you brought water for them out of the rock, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them.(J)
16 “But they, our ancestors, acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments;(K) 17 they refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them.(L) 18 Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies,(M) 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud that led them in the way did not leave them by day nor the pillar of fire by night that gave them light on the way by which they should go.(N) 20 You gave your good spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouths and gave them water for their thirst.(O) 21 Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.(P) 22 And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner,[c] so they took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan.(Q) 23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them into the land that you had told their ancestors to enter and possess.(R) 24 So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they pleased.(S) 25 And they captured fortress cities and a rich land and took possession of houses filled with all sorts of goods, hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards, and fruit trees in abundance; so they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.(T)
26 “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.(U) 27 Therefore you gave them into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer. Then 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 saviors who saved them from the hands of their enemies. 28 But after they had rest, they again did evil before you, and you abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them, yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you rescued them according to your mercies. 29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law, yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments but sinned against your ordinances, by the observance of which a person shall live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years you were patient with them and warned them by your spirit through your prophets, yet they would not listen. Therefore you handed them over to the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32 “Now therefore, our God—the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love—do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 You have been just in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly; 34 our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law or heeded the commandments and the warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and in the great goodness you bestowed on them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their wicked works. 36 Here we are, slaves to this day, slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts.(V) 37 Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins; they have power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.”(W)
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