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You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you. You are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham, found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his offspring, and have performed your words; for you are righteous.

“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea, 10 and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land; for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is today. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters. 12 Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go.

13 “You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and a law, by Moses your servant, 15 and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.

16 “But they and our fathers behaved proudly, hardened their neck, didn’t listen to your commandments, 17 and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them. 18 Yes, when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies; 19 yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go. 20 You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

21 “Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell. 22 Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

24 “So the children 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, that they might do with them as they pleased. 25 They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.

26 “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies. 27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them. In the time of their trouble, when they cried to you, you heard from heaven; and according to your manifold mercies you gave them saviors who saved them out of the hands of their adversaries. 28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before you; therefore you left them in the hands of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned, and cried to you, you heard from heaven; and many times you delivered them according to your mercies, 29 and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they were arrogant, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear. 30 Yet many years you put up with them, and testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not listen. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

31 “Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you didn’t make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness, don’t let all the travail seem little before you, that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, on our prophets, on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day. 33 However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly. 34 Also our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you testified against them. 35 For they have not served you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land which you gave before them. They didn’t turn from their wicked works.

36 “Behold, we are servants today, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in it. 37 It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have power over our bodies and over our livestock, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

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[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. 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. (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.

(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.

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 9:6 Septuagint adds And Ezra said
  2. Nehemiah 9:17 Some Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return to their slavery
  3. Nehemiah 9:18 Hebrew metal