Nehemiah 9

Modern

Literal

The People Confess Their Sins

¹On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.

¹And on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel were assembled with fasting, and in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.

²Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

²And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all the sons of a foreigner, and they stood and confessed concerning their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

³While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

³And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of YHWH their God for a fourth of the day, and a fourth they confessed and bowed low to YHWH their God.

⁴And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.

⁴And there stood on the ascent, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out in a loud voice to YHWH their God.

⁵Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting:

Blessed be Your glorious name,

and may it be exalted

above all blessing and praise.

⁵And the Levites said—Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah: “Rise and bless YHWH your God from forever even to forever! And blessed be the name of your glory, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

⁶You 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.

⁶You are He, YHWH, You alone; You have made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You give life to all things, and the host of the heavens gives worship to You.

⁷You are the LORD,

the God who chose Abram,

who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans

and gave him the name Abraham.

⁷You are He, YHWH, the God who chose Abram and brought him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, and you set his name to be Abraham.

⁸You 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.

⁸And You found his heart faithful before You, and You cut with him a covenant to give him the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed. And You made stand Your words, for You are righteous.

⁹You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt;

You heard their cry at the Red Sea.^a

⁹And You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry You heard at at the Red Sea.

¹⁰You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,

all his officials, and all the people of his land,

for You knew they had acted with arrogance

against our fathers.

You made a name for Yourself

that endures to this day.

¹⁰And You gave forth signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land. For You knew that they seethed against them, and You made for Yourself a name as it is this day.

¹¹You divided the sea before them,

and they crossed through it on dry ground.

You hurled their pursuers into the depths

like a stone into raging waters.

¹¹And You divided the sea before them, and they passed over in the midst of the sea on the dry land. And those pursuing them You threw into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.

¹²You led them with a pillar of cloud by day

and a pillar of fire by night,

to light for them the way

in which they should travel.

¹²And by a pillar of cloud You led them by day, and by a pillar of fire by night, to give light for them, on the way that they should walk in it.

¹³You came down on Mount Sinai

and spoke with them from heaven.

You gave them just ordinances, true laws,

and good statutes and commandments.

¹³And upon Mount Sinai You came down and spoke with them from the heavens, and You gave to them straight ordinances and true instructions, good statutes and commandments.

¹⁴You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath

and gave them commandments and statutes and laws

through Your servant Moses.

¹⁴And the Sabbath of Your holiness You made known to them, and the commands and statutes and instructions You commanded to them by the hand of Moses Your servant.

¹⁵In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven;

in their thirst You brought them water from the rock.

You told them to go in and possess the land

that You had sworn to give them.

¹⁵And bread from the heavens You gave to them for their hunger, and water from the rock you brought forth to them for their thirst, and You said to them to go in to possess the land that You lifted Your hand to give to them.

¹⁶But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked

and did not obey Your commandments.

¹⁶And they and our fathers seethed and hardened their necks, and they did not listen to Your commandments.

¹⁷They 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.^a

But You are a forgiving God,

gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and rich in loving devotion,

and You did not forsake them.

¹⁷And they refused to hear, and they did not remember Your wonders that You did among them; and they hardened their necks and appointed a leader for returning to their slavery in Egypt. And You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, long of nostrils and abounding in loving devotion—and You did not forsake them.

¹⁸Even when they cast for themselves

an image of a calf and said,

‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’

and when they committed terrible blasphemies,

¹⁸For they also made for themselves a calf molten and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ and they did great blasphemies,

¹⁹You 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.

¹⁹and You, great in Your mercies, did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud He did not turn aside from them by day, to lead them on the path; and the pillar of the fire by night, to shine on them, and on the way that they should walk in it.

²⁰You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them.

You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths,

and You gave them water for their thirst.

²⁰And Your good Spirit You gave to give them understanding, and Your manna You did not withhold from their lips, and water you gave to them for their thirst.

²¹For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness,

so that they lacked nothing.

Their clothes did not wear out

and their feet did not swell.

²¹And forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they did not lack. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

²²You gave them kingdoms and peoples

and allotted to them every corner of the land.

So they took the land of Sihon^a king of Heshbon

and of Og king of Bashan.

²²And You gave to them kingdoms and nations, and You portioned them to the corner. And they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

²³You multiplied their descendants

like the stars of heaven

and brought them to the land

You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

²³And their children You multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and You brought them into the land of which You had said to their fathers to enter to possess it.

²⁴So their descendants went in and possessed the land;

You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land.

You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land,

to do with them as they wished.

²⁴And the sons came and possessed the land, and You humbled before their faces the dwellers of the land of the Canaanites, and You gave them into their hands and their kings, and the people of the land, to do with them according to their pleasure.

²⁵They captured fortified cities and fertile land

and took houses full of all goods,

wells already dug,

vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.

So they ate and were filled;

they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.

²⁵And they took fortified cities and a rich land, and they possessed houses full of all good, wells dug, vineyards, and olive groves and trees of fruit in abundance. And they ate and were filled and grew fat and lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.

²⁶But they were disobedient and rebelled against You;

they flung Your law behind their backs.

They killed Your prophets,

who had admonished them to return to You.

They committed terrible blasphemies.

²⁶And they were disobedient and rebelled against You, and they cast Your law behind their backs, and Your prophets they killed, those who testified against them, so as to turn them back to You, and they did great blasphemies.

²⁷So 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.

²⁷And You gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they brought distress to them. And in the time of their distress they cried to You, and You from the heavens heard, and according to Your abundant mercies You gave to them saviors, and they saved them from the hand of their enemies.

²⁸But 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.

²⁸And after rest for them, again they did evil before You, and you left them to the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. And they returned and cried out to You, and You from the heavens heard, and You delivered them according to Your mercies many times.

²⁹You admonished them to turn back to Your law,

but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments.

They sinned against Your ordinances,

by which a man will live if he practices them.

They turned a stubborn shoulder;

they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

²⁹And you testified against them to bring them back to Your instruction, and they still seethed and did not listen to Your commands. And Your just laws they sinned against, which if a man does them, he shall live by them; and they gave to be stubborn the shoulder, and their neck they hardened, and they would not listen.

³⁰You were patient with them for many years,

and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets.

Yet they would not listen,

so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.^a

³⁰And You drew over them many years, and You testified with them by Your Spirit, by the hand of Your prophets. And they would not give an ear, and You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

³¹But 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.

³¹And in Your great mercies You did not make of them a complete end, nor did You abandon them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.

³²So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God

who keeps His gracious covenant,

do not view lightly all the hardship

that has come upon us,

and upon our kings and leaders,

our priests and prophets,

our ancestors and all Your people,

from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

³²And now, our God—the God the great, the mighty, and fearsome, keeping the covenant and the kindness, should not all the hardship that has found us seem little before Your face—for our kings, for our princes, and for our priests, and for our prophets, and for our fathers, and for all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

³³You are just in all that has befallen us,

because You have acted faithfully,

while we have acted wickedly.

³³And You are righteous over all that has come upon us, for faithfully You have acted, and we have been wicked.

³⁴Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers

did not obey Your law

or listen to Your commandments

and warnings that You gave them.

³⁴And our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers, they have not done Your law, and they have not attended to Your commandments and to Your testimonies that You testified against them.

³⁵For even while they were in their kingdom,

with the abundant goodness

that You had given them,

and in the spacious and fertile land

that You had set before them,

they would not serve You

or turn from their wicked ways.

³⁵And they, in their kingdom, in your abundant goodness, that You gave to them, and in the land broad and rich that You gave before their face, they did not serve You, and not did they turn away from their evil deeds.

³⁶So here we are today as slaves

in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—

here we are as slaves!

³⁶Behold! We are this day slaves, and the land that You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its goodness, behold—we are slaves in it.

³⁷Its abundant harvest goes to the kings

You have set over us because of our sins.

And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please.

We are in great distress.

³⁷And its produce is multiplying for the kings whom You have given to be over us in our sins, and over our bodies to be ruling, and over our livestock according to their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

³⁸In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of^a our leaders, Levites, and priests.”

³⁸And in all this we are cutting a firm covenant, and writing even on the sealed document our leaders, our Levites, and our priests.”