Nehemiah, 9

1. On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites, in sackcloth and with dust on their heads, assembled for a fast.

1. Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth upon their heads.

2. Then those of Israelite stock who had severed relations with all foreigners stood up and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.

2. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3. Standing, each man in his place, they read from the Book of the Law of Yahweh their God for one quarter of the day; for another quarter they confessed their sins and worshipped Yahweh their God.

3. And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; for another fourth of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.

4. On the Levites' platform stood Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, calling to Yahweh their God in ringing tones.

4. Upon the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kad'mi-el, Shebani'ah, Bunni, Sherebi'ah, Bani, and Chena'ni; and they cried with 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 Yahweh your God! 'Blessed are you, Yahweh our God from everlasting to everlasting, and blessed be your glorious name, surpassing all blessing and praise!

5. Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kad'mi-el, Bani, Hashabnei'ah, Sherebi'ah, Hodi'ah, Shebani'ah, and Pethahi'ah, said, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be thy glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and praise."

6. 'You, Yahweh, are the one, only Yahweh, you have created the heavens, the heaven of heavens and all their array, the earth and all it bears, the seas and all they hold. To all of them you give life, and the array of heaven worships you.

6. And Ezra said: "Thou art the LORD, thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and thou preservest all of them; and the host of heaven worships thee.

7. 'You are Yahweh God, who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur in Chaldaea and changed his name to Abraham.

7. Thou art the LORD, the God who didst choose Abram and bring him forth out of Ur of the Chalde'ans and give him the name Abraham;

8. Finding his heart was faithful to you, you made a covenant with him, to give the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites and the Girgashites to him and his descendants. And you have made good your promises, for you are upright.

8. and thou didst find his heart faithful before thee, and didst make with him the covenant to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Per'izzite, the Jeb'usite, and the Gir'gashite; and thou hast fulfilled thy promise, for thou art righteous.

9. 'You saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt, you heard their cry by the Sea of Reeds.

9. "And thou didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and hear their cry at the Red Sea,

10. You displayed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants and all the people of his land; for you knew how arrogantly they treated them. You won a reputation which you keep to this day.

10. and didst perform signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for thou knewest that they acted insolently against our fathers; and thou didst get thee a name, as it is to this day.

11. You opened up the sea in front of them: they walked on dry ground right through the sea. Into the depths you hurled their pursuers like a stone into the raging waters.

11. And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land; and thou didst cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.

12. With a pillar of cloud you led them by day, with a pillar of fire by night: to light the way ahead of them by which they were to go.

12. By a pillar of cloud thou didst lead 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. You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven; you gave them right rules, reliable laws, good statutes and commandments;

13. Thou didst come down upon Mount Sinai, and speak with them from heaven and give them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments,

14. you revealed your holy Sabbath to them; you laid down commandments, statutes and law for them through your servant Moses.

14. and thou didst make known to them thy holy sabbath and command them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses thy servant.

15. For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, for their thirst you brought them water out of a rock, and you told them to go in and take possession of the country which you had sworn to give them.

15. Thou didst give them bread from heaven for their hunger and bring forth water for them from the rock for their thirst, and thou didst tell them to go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

16. 'But they and our ancestors acted arrogantly, grew obstinate and flouted your commands.

16. "But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey thy commandments;

17. They refused to obey, forgetful of the wonders which you had worked for them; they grew obstinate and made up their minds to return to their slavery in Egypt. But because you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, patient and rich in faithful love, you did not abandon them!

17. they refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders which thou didst perform among them; but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But thou art a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and didst not forsake them.

18. 'Even when they cast themselves a calf out of molten metal and said, "This is your God who brought you up from Egypt!" and committed monstrous impieties,

18. Even when they had made for themselves a molten calf and said, `This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed great blasphemies,

19. you, in your great compassion, did not abandon them in the desert: the pillar of cloud did not leave them, leading them on their path by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, lighting the way ahead of them by which they were to go.

19. thou in thy great mercies didst not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud which led them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night which lighted for them the way by which they should go.

20. You gave them your good spirit to instruct them, you did not withhold your manna from their mouths, you gave them water for their thirst.

20. Thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct them, and didst not withhold thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

21. For forty years you cared for them in the desert, so that they went short of nothing, their clothes did not wear out, nor were their feet swollen.

21. Forty years didst thou sustain 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, allotting them these as frontier lands; they occupied the country of Sihon king of Heshbon, and the country of Og king of Bashan.

22. And thou didst give them kingdoms and peoples, and didst allot to them every corner; so they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan.

23. You gave them as many children as there are stars in the sky, and brought them into the country which you had promised their ancestors that they would enter and possess.

23. Thou didst multiply their descendants as the stars of heaven, and thou didst bring them into the land which thou hadst told their fathers to enter and possess.

24. The children entered and took possession of the country and before them you subdued the country's inhabitants, the Canaanites, whom you put at their mercy, with their kings and the peoples of the country, for them to treat as they pleased;

24. So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and thou didst subdue before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and didst give them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

25. they captured fortified towns and a fertile countryside, they took possession of houses stocked with all kinds of goods, of storage-wells ready-hewn, of vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in profusion; so they ate, were full, grew fat and revelled in your great goodness.

25. And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns hewn out, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance; so they ate, and were filled and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

26. 'But they grew disobedient, rebelled against you and thrust your law behind their backs; they slaughtered your prophets who had reproved them to bring them back to you, and committed monstrous impieties.

26. "Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against thee and cast thy law behind their back and killed thy prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to thee, and they committed great blasphemies.

27. So you put them at the mercy of their enemies who oppressed them. But when they were being oppressed and called to you, you heard them from heaven and because of your great compassion you gave them deliverers who rescued them from their oppressors' clutches.

27. Therefore thou didst give them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer; and in the time of their suffering they cried to thee and thou didst hear them from heaven; and according to thy great mercies thou didst give them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.

28. But once at peace again, again they did what was wrong before you; so you put them at the mercy of their enemies who then became their rulers. When they called to you again, you heard them from heaven and, because of your compassion, rescued them many times.

28. But after they had rest they did evil again before thee, and thou didst abandon them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they turned and cried to thee thou didst hear from heaven, and many times thou didst deliver them according to thy mercies.

29. You warned them, to bring them back to your law, but they became arrogant, did not obey your commandments and sinned against your rules, in whose observance is life; they turned a stubborn shoulder, were obstinate, and disobeyed.

29. And thou didst warn them in order to turn them back to thy law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey thy commandments, but sinned against thy ordinances, by the observance of which a man shall live, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.

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 put them at the mercy of the people of the country.

30. Many years thou didst bear with them, and didst warn them by thy Spirit through thy prophets; yet they would not give ear. Therefore thou didst give them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

31. But, because of your great compassion, you did not destroy them completely nor abandon them, for you are a gracious, compassionate God.

31. Nevertheless in thy great mercies thou didst not make an end of them or forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

32. Now, our God -- the great God, the Mighty and Awe-inspiring One, maintaining the covenant and your faithful love- count as no small thing this misery which has befallen us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, and all your people from the times of the Assyrian kings to the present day.

32. "Now therefore, our God, the great and mighty and terrible God, who keepest covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to thee that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.

33. You have been upright in all that has happened to us, for you acted faithfully, while we did wrong.

33. Yet thou hast been just in all that has come upon us, for thou hast dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly;

34. Our kings, our princes, our priests and our ancestors did not keep your law or pay attention to your commandments and obligations which you imposed upon them.

34. our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept thy law or heeded thy commandments and thy warnings which thou didst give them.

35. Even in their own kingdom, despite your great goodness which you bestowed on them, despite the wide and fertile country which you had lavished on them, they did not serve you or renounce their evil deeds.

35. They did not serve thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness which thou gavest them, and in the large and rich land which thou didst set before them; and they did not turn from their wicked works.

36. See, we are slaves today, slaves in the country which you gave to our ancestors for them to eat the good things it produces.

36. Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that thou gavest to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves.

37. Its abundant produce goes to the kings whom, for our sins, you have set over us, who rule over our persons and over our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.'

37. And its rich yield goes to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins; they have power also over our bodies and over our cattle at their pleasure, and we are in great distress."

38.

38. Because of all this we make a firm covenant and write it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests set their seal to it.