Nehemiah 9

¹ On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites gathered for a fast, wearing sackcloth and with dust on them.

² The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood and confessed their sins and the guilt of their ancestors.

³ They stood where they were and read from the book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter, they confessed and bowed down before the LORD their God.

⁴ On the platform of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani. They cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.

⁵ The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting! May your glorious name be blessed, exalted above all blessing and praise.

⁶ You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, the highest heavens and all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them. You give life to them all, and the host of heaven bows down before you.

⁷ You are the LORD God who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham.

⁸ You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You kept your promise, for you are righteous.

⁹ You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea.

¹⁰ You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly they had treated them. You made a name for yourself, as it is to this day.

¹¹ You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through the sea on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into raging waters.

¹² You led them by a pillar of cloud by day and by a pillar of fire at night, to light the way they were to travel.”

¹³ “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just regulations, true laws, good statutes, and commandments.

¹⁴ You made your holy Sabbath known to them, and through your servant Moses you commanded them precepts, statutes, and law.

¹⁵ You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and brought water from the rock when they were thirsty. You told them to enter and take possession of the land you had sworn to give them.

¹⁶ But they and our ancestors acted arrogantly, stiffened their necks, and did not listen to your commandments.

¹⁷ They refused to listen and did not remember the wonders you had done among them. They stiffened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in steadfast love, and you did not abandon them.

¹⁸ Even when they made a cast-metal calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up from Egypt,’ they committed terrible blasphemies.

¹⁹ But in your great compassion, you did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, to guide them on the way, nor did the pillar of fire leave them by night, to light the way they were to travel.

²⁰ You gave your good Spirit to instruct them, did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water when they were thirsty.

²¹ For 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 You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted them territories. They took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan.

²³ You multiplied their children like the stars of heaven and brought them into the land you had told their ancestors to enter and take possession of.

²⁴ The children entered and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and handed them over to them, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they pleased.

²⁵ They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses filled with every good thing, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and abundant fruit trees. They ate and were satisfied; they grew prosperous and delighted in your great goodness.”

²⁶ “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They cast your Law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who warned them to turn back to you. They committed terrible blasphemies.

²⁷ So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. In their time of distress, they cried out to you, and you heard them from heaven. In your great compassion, you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hands of their enemies.

²⁸ But when they had rest, they again did evil in your sight. You abandoned them to their enemies, who ruled over them. They cried out to you again, and you heard them from heaven and rescued them many times in your compassion.

²⁹ You warned them to turn back to your Law, but they acted arrogantly and would not listen to your commandments. They sinned against your regulations, though whoever obeys them will live by them. They turned a rebellious shoulder, stiffened their necks, and would not listen.

³⁰ You were patient with them for many years and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets, but they would not listen. So you handed them over to the peoples of the lands.

³¹ But in your great compassion, you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and compassionate God.

³² And now, our God, great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, who keeps the covenant and steadfast love, do not regard as insignificant all the hardship that has come upon us—upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

³³ You are righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

³⁴ Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors did not keep your Law or pay attention to your commandments and the warnings you gave them.

³⁵ Even in their kingdom, amid the great goodness you gave them, and in the broad, fertile land you placed before them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil deeds.

³⁶ Today we are slaves. In the land you gave our ancestors to eat its fruit and enjoy its good things—in that land we are slaves!

³⁷ Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.”

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