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
Nehemiah 9:6-37
Common English Bible
6 You alone are the Lord.
You alone made heaven, even the heaven of heavens, with all their forces.
You made the earth and all that is on it, and the seas and all that is in them.
You preserve them all, and the heavenly forces worship you.
7 Lord God, you are the one who chose Abram.
You brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found him to be faithful before you,
and you made a covenant with him.
You promised to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites,
the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites.
And you have kept your promise because you are righteous.
9 You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt
and heard their cry at the Reed Sea.[a]
10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
all his servants, and the people of his land.
You knew that they had acted arrogantly against our ancestors.
You made a name for yourself, a name that is famous even today.
11 You divided the sea before them so that they went through it on dry land.
But you cast their pursuers into the depths,
as a stone into the mighty waters.
12 With a pillar of cloud you led them by day
and with a column of lightning by night;
they lit the way in which the people should go.
13 You came down upon Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven.
You gave them proper judgments and true Instruction,
good statutes and commandments.
14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath,
and gave them commandments, statutes, and Instruction through your servant Moses.
15 When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven;
when they were thirsty, you brought water out of the rock for them.
You told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.
16 But our ancestors acted arrogantly.
They were stubborn and wouldn’t obey your commandments.
17 They refused to obey,
and didn’t remember the wonders that you accomplished in their midst.
They acted arrogantly and decided to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But you are a God ready to forgive, merciful and compassionate,
very patient, and truly faithful.
You didn’t forsake them.
18 Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves,
saying, “This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,”
and holding you in great contempt,
19 you, in your great mercy, didn’t abandon them in the wilderness.
The column of cloud continued to guide them on their journey during the day,
and the column of lightning lit their path during the night.
20 You gave your good spirit to teach them.
You didn’t withhold your manna from them,
and you gave them water for their thirst.
21 You kept them alive for forty years—
they lacked nothing in the wilderness!
Their clothes didn’t wear out,
and their feet didn’t swell.
22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples,
and assigned to them every side.[b]
They took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon
and the land of King Og of Bashan.
23 You multiplied their descendants as the stars of heaven.
You brought them into the land that you had told their ancestors to enter and possess.
24 So the descendants went in and possessed the land.
Before them, you subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land.
You also handed over to them their kings and the neighboring peoples,
to do with as they wished.
25 They captured fortified cities and productive land,
and took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things,
excavated cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards, and a great many fruit trees.
They ate until they were satisfied and grew fat,
and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
26 But they were disobedient, rebelled against you,
and turned their back on your Instruction.
They killed your prophets who had warned them so that they might return to you.
They held you in great contempt.
27 Therefore, you handed them over to the power of their enemies who made them suffer.
But when they cried out to you in their suffering,
you heard them from heaven.
Because you are merciful,
you gave them saviors who saved them from the power of their enemies.
28 But after they had rest from this, they again started doing evil against you.
So you gave them over to the power of their enemies who ruled over them.
Yet when they turned and cried to you,
you heard from heaven and rescued them many times because of your great mercy.
29 You also warned them to return to your Instruction,
but they acted arrogantly and didn’t obey your commands.
They sinned against your judgments,
even though life comes by keeping them.[c]
They turned a stubborn shoulder, became headstrong, and wouldn’t obey.
30 You were patient with them for many years
and warned them by your spirit through the prophets.
But they wouldn’t listen,
so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples.
31 In your great mercy, however, you didn’t make an end of them.
Neither did you forsake them, because you are a merciful and compassionate God.
32 Now, our God, great and mighty and awesome God,
you are the one who faithfully keeps the covenant.
Don’t treat lightly all of the hardship that has come upon us,
upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people,
from the time of the kings of Assyria until today.
33 You have been just in all that has happened to us;
you have acted faithfully, and we have done wrong.
34 Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors haven’t kept your Instruction.
They haven’t heeded your commandments and the warnings that you gave them.
35 Even in their own kingdom, surrounded by the great goodness that you gave to them,
even in the wide and rich land that you gave them,
they didn’t serve you or turn from their wicked works.
36 So now today we are slaves,
slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors
to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts.
37 Its produce profits the kings whom you have placed over us because of our sins.
They have power over our bodies and do as they please with our livestock.
We are in great distress.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 9:9 Or Red Sea
- Nehemiah 9:22 Heb uncertain
- Nehemiah 9:29 Them refers to judgments.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible