אַתָּ֫ה

“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

…and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them

…and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.

So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?

Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.”

“We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised.

…that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,

Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”

You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.

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

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

They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.

But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion.

But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

Then I rebuked the nobles of Judah and asked, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day?

Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”

…but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they did not return on the Sabbath.

Then the royal servants at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the command of the king?”

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Now you may write in the king’s name as you please regarding the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. For a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.”

Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.”

But if you would earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy,

…if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate.

As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him,

For you will forget your misery, recalling it only as waters gone by.

“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!

You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.

But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.

…and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk?

So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite declared: “I am young in years, while you are old; that is why I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know.

But if not, then listen to me; be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’

Should God repay you on your own terms when you have disavowed Him? You must choose, not I; so tell me what you know.

I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.