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Nehemiah 9:6-37
New English Translation

6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens,[a] along with all their multitude of stars,[b] the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

7 “You are the Lord God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham. 8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a[c] covenant with him to give his descendants[d] the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise,[e] for you are righteous.

9 “You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[f] 10 You performed awesome signs[g] against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians[h] had acted presumptuously[i] against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day. 11 You split the sea before them, and they crossed through[j] the sea on dry ground. But you threw their pursuers[k] into the depths, like a stone into surging[l] waters. 12 You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel.

13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and laws to them through[m] Moses your servant. 15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn[n] to give them.

16 “But they—our ancestors[o]—behaved presumptuously; they rebelled[p] and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt.[q] But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love.[r] You did not abandon them, 18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious[s] blasphemies.

19 “Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day,[t] nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel. 20 You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them. Even in the wilderness they never lacked anything. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

22 “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land.[u] They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon[v] and the land of King Og of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess. 24 Their descendants[w] entered and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who were the inhabitants of the land. You delivered them into their hand, together with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things—wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full[x] and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.

26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law.[y] They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies. 27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from[z] their adversaries.

28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to[aa] their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again. 29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances—those by which an individual, if he obeys them,[ab] will live. They boldly turned from you;[ac] they rebelled[ad] and did not obey. 30 You prolonged your kindness[ae] with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention,[af] so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.[ag] 31 However, due to your abundant mercy you did not do away with them altogether; you did not abandon them. For you are a merciful and compassionate God.

32 “So now, our God—the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity[ah]—do not regard as inconsequential[ai] all the hardship that has befallen us—our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people—from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day. 33 You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully.[aj] It is we who have been in the wrong! 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law. They have not paid attention to your commandments or your testimonies by which you have solemnly admonished them. 35 Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible[ak] goodness that you had lavished[al] on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set[am] before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.

36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy[an] its good things—we are slaves. 37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit,[ao] and we are in great distress!

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 9:6 tn Heb “the heavens of the heavens.”
  2. Nehemiah 9:6 tn Heb “all their host.”
  3. Nehemiah 9:8 tn Heb “the” (so NAB).
  4. Nehemiah 9:8 tn Heb “seed.”
  5. Nehemiah 9:8 tn Heb “your words.”
  6. Nehemiah 9:9 tn Heb “the Sea of Reeds.” Traditionally this is identified as the Red Sea, and the modern designation has been used in the translation for clarity.
  7. Nehemiah 9:10 tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”
  8. Nehemiah 9:10 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Nehemiah 9:10 tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”
  10. Nehemiah 9:11 tn Heb “in the midst of.”
  11. Nehemiah 9:11 tn Heb “those who pursued them.”
  12. Nehemiah 9:11 tn Heb “mighty.”
  13. Nehemiah 9:14 tn Heb “by the hand of.”
  14. Nehemiah 9:15 tn Heb “had lifted your hand.”
  15. Nehemiah 9:16 tn Heb “and our fathers.” The ו (vav) is explicative.
  16. Nehemiah 9:16 tn Heb “they stiffened their neck” (so also in the following verse).
  17. Nehemiah 9:17 tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew mss and the LXX in reading בְּמִצְרָיִם (bemitsrayim, “in Egypt”; so also NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT) rather than the MT reading בְּמִרְיָם (bemiryam, “in their rebellion”).
  18. Nehemiah 9:17 tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vekhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.
  19. Nehemiah 9:18 tn Heb “great.”
  20. Nehemiah 9:19 tn Heb “did not turn from them by day to guide them in the path.”
  21. Nehemiah 9:22 tn The words “of the land” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
  22. Nehemiah 9:22 tc Most Hebrew mss read “the land of Sihon and the land of the king of Heshbon.” The present translation (along with NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT) follows the reading of one Hebrew ms, the LXX, and the Vulgate.
  23. Nehemiah 9:24 tn Heb “the sons.”
  24. Nehemiah 9:25 tn Heb “they ate and were sated.” This expression is a hendiadys. The first verb retains its full verbal sense, while the second functions adverbially: “they ate and were filled” = “they ate until they were full.”
  25. Nehemiah 9:26 tn Heb “they cast your law behind their backs.”
  26. Nehemiah 9:27 tn Heb “from the hand of” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “from the power of.”
  27. Nehemiah 9:28 tn Heb “in the hand of” (so KJV, ASV); NAB “to the power of.”
  28. Nehemiah 9:29 tn Heb “if a man keep.” See note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.
  29. Nehemiah 9:29 tn Heb “they gave a stubborn shoulder.”
  30. Nehemiah 9:29 tn Heb “they stiffened their neck.”
  31. Nehemiah 9:30 tn The Hebrew expression here is elliptical. The words “your kindness” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  32. Nehemiah 9:30 tn Heb “did not give ear to.”
  33. Nehemiah 9:30 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
  34. Nehemiah 9:32 tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys. The second noun retains its full nominal sense, while the first functions adjectivally: “the covenant and loyalty” = covenant fidelity.
  35. Nehemiah 9:32 tn Heb “do not let it seem small in your sight.”
  36. Nehemiah 9:33 tn Heb “you have done truth.”
  37. Nehemiah 9:35 tn Heb “great.”
  38. Nehemiah 9:35 tn Heb “given them.”
  39. Nehemiah 9:35 tn Heb “given.”
  40. Nehemiah 9:36 tn The expression “to enjoy” is not included in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  41. Nehemiah 9:37 tn Heb “according to their desire.”
Close AMP

Nehemiah 9:6-37
Amplified Bible

6 
[And Ezra said],
“You are the Lord, You alone;
You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host (the heavenly bodies),
The earth and everything that is on it,
The seas and everything that is in them.
You give life to all of them,
And the heavenly host is bowing down [in worship] to You.
7 
“You are the Lord God,
Who chose Abram
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees,
And gave him the name Abraham.
8 
“You found his heart to be faithful [a]before You,
And You [b]made a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite, of the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—
To give it to his descendants.
And You have fulfilled Your promise,
For You are righteous and just.

9 
“You saw our fathers’ affliction in Egypt,
And You heard their cry by the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).
10 
“Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that they behaved arrogantly toward them (the Israelites),
And You made a name for Yourself, as it is to this day.
11 
“You divided the sea before them,
So that they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;
You hurled their pursuers into the depths,
Like a stone into mighty and raging waters.
12 
“And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light the way for them
In which they were to go.
13 
“Then You came down on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven;
And You gave them fair ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 
“So You made known to them Your holy Sabbath,
And gave them commandments, statutes, and law,
[c]Through Your servant Moses.
15 
“You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And brought water for them out of a rock for their thirst,
And You told them to enter and take possession of
The land that You [d]swore to give them.(A)

16 
“But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They stiffened their necks and would not heed Your commandments.
17 
“They refused to listen and obey,
And did not remember Your wondrous acts which You had performed among them;
So they stiffened their necks and [in their rebellion] appointed a leader in order to return them to slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and merciful and compassionate,
[e]Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not abandon them.(B)
18 
“Even when they had made for themselves
A [f]calf of cast metal
And said, ‘This is your god
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies,
19 
You, in Your great mercy and compassion,
Did not abandon them in the wilderness;
The pillar of the cloud did not leave them by day,
To lead them in the way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way they should go.
20 
“You [also] 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 forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing,
Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.
22 
“You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And You allotted the kingdoms to them as a boundary.
So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23 
“You made their children as numerous as the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You told their fathers to enter and possess.
24 
“So their sons (descendants) went in and took possession of the land;
And 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 as they pleased.
25 
“They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.
They took possession of houses full of all good things,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
And [g]fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and became fat,
And they reveled and were delighted in Your great goodness.

26 
“Yet they were disobedient and rebelled against You,
And cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets who warned them
To return to You;
And they committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies.
27 
“Therefore You handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them.
But when they cried out to You in the time of their suffering and distress,
You heard them from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You gave them [h]people to rescue them.
Who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28 
“But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil before You;
Therefore You abandoned them into the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them.
Yet when they turned and cried out again to You, You heard them from heaven,
And You rescued them many times in accordance with Your compassion,
29 
And You admonished them and warned them to turn them back to Your law.
Yet they acted presumptuously and arrogantly and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your ordinances,
Which by keeping, a man will live.
But they turned a stubborn shoulder, stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 
“Yet You were patient with them for many years,
And admonished them and warned them by Your Spirit through Your prophets;
Still they would not [i]listen.
Therefore You gave them into the hand (power) of the peoples of the lands.
31 
“Yet in Your great compassion You did not utterly destroy them or abandon them,
For You are a gracious and merciful God.

32 
“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,
Since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 
“However, You are just and righteous in everything that has come upon us;
For You have dealt faithfully, but 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 which You have given them.
35 
“But they, in their kingdom,
With Your great goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You set before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their wicked deeds.
36 
“Behold, we are slaves today,
And as for the land which You gave our fathers, to eat of its fruit and its goodness,
Behold, we are slaves in it.
37 
“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.

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 9:8 Lit before Your face.
  2. Nehemiah 9:8 Lit cut.
  3. Nehemiah 9:14 Lit by the hand of.
  4. Nehemiah 9:15 Lit lifted up Your hand.
  5. Nehemiah 9:17 Lit with a long nose.
  6. Nehemiah 9:18 The selection of a calf-god was probably inspired by the Egyptian bull-god Apis (Hapis), believed to be a living manifestation of the Egyptian god, Ptah. In ancient Egypt, a bull-calf with specific markings was chosen from the herd and worshiped as Apis. The Apis was the most important of the sacred animals of Egypt. At the age of twenty-eight the Apis bull was sacrificed and buried in a highly structured ritual and a new bull-calf was selected to take his place. Numerous elaborate burial sites containing the Apis bulls have been discovered in Egypt. Both the Greeks and Romans adopted the cultic worship of Apis and it continued until about a.d. 400.
  7. Nehemiah 9:25 Lit food.
  8. Nehemiah 9:27 Lit deliverers.
  9. Nehemiah 9:30 Lit give ear.
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Nehemiah 8
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