Nehemiah Chapter 9

Verses from Nehemiah Chapter 9 of the book of Nehemiah in the Bible.

Nehemiah - Old Testament — Nehemiah – Old Testament

The Israelites confess their sins

1. On the twenty-fourth day of the month, the Israelites gathered together, fasted, put on sackcloth and put earth on their heads.
2. Those who were descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood up in their places and confessed their sins and the transgressions of their ancestors.
3. They remained where they were and read aloud from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for three hours, and for another three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.
4. In the pulpit, standing, were the Levites Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Buni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani, who cried out to the Lord their God with a loud voice.
5. And the Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Petaiah called together the people, saying: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who lives forever!

Prayer of the Levites

6. “Blessed be your glorious name! Your greatness is beyond any expression of praise. You are the Lord, the God who made the heavens and the heavens of heavens, and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, the seas and everything in them. You grant life to them all, and the armies of heaven worship you.
7. “You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.
8. You saw that his heart was faithful before you, and you made a covenant with him, promising to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites and the Girgashites. And you kept your promise, for you are righteous.
9. You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea.
10You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and against all the people of his land, because you knew that they acted arrogantly against your people. Thus, you made a name for yourself that remains to this day.
11. You divided the sea before them, so that they could cross it on dry ground, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.
12. You led them by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire, to light the way they should follow.
13. “You went down to Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. He gave them righteous ordinances, true laws, good statutes and commandments.
14. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments, statutes and a law through Moses your servant.
15. You fed them with bread from heaven when they were hungry, and you brought water out of the rock for them when they were thirsty. You ordered them to enter and take possession of the land you had sworn to give them.
16. “But they and our ancestors became proud and obstinate. They did not obey your commandments.
17. They refused to listen to you, they forgot the wonders you did among them and became obstinate in their rebellion, appointing a leader to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in love. That's why you didn't abandon them,
18. even when they made themselves a calf of molten metal and said, 'This is your God who brought you out of Egypt' or when they committed great blasphemies.
19. “By your great mercy, you did not abandon them in the desert. During the day the cloud did not leave them, guiding them on their path, nor at night the pillar of fire, illuminating the path they should follow.
20. You gave them your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not withhold your manna that sustained them in the desert. You also gave them water to quench their thirst.
21. For forty years you sustained them in the desert, and they lacked nothing. His clothes did not wear out, and his feet did not swell.
22. “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and distributed to them portions of land. They took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan.
23. You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the heavens and brought them to the land you promised their ancestors to possess.
24. His descendants entered and took possession of the land. You humiliated their Canaanite inhabitants before them and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, so that they could treat them as they pleased.
25. They conquered fortified cities and fertile land, took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive trees and many fruit trees. They ate and were satisfied and grew fat; and they lived in abundance because of your great kindness.
26. “However, they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed great blasphemies.
27. Therefore you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they cried out to you, and you heard them from heaven. In your great mercy, you raised up leaders who freed them from their oppressors.
28. But as soon as they got relief, they did what was bad again. Then, as soon as they had relief, they began to do evil again. Therefore, you abandoned them into the hands of their enemies, who dominated them. But when they cried out to you again, you heard them from heaven, and in your great compassion you once again delivered them.
29. You warned them to return to your Law, but they became arrogant and did not listen to your commands. They have sinned against your precepts, which, if anyone observes them, will find life. They stubbornly turned their backs on you, became rebellious and refused to listen.
30. For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit, through the prophets, you warned them. However, they didn't listen to you. Therefore, you gave them into the hands of the people around them.
31. But by your great mercy you did not destroy them or abandon them, for you are a compassionate and merciful God.
32. Now, O our God, great and mighty and awesome God, who fulfills your covenant and is merciful, do not ignore all the affliction that has befallen us, our kings, our princes, our priests and our prophets, our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33. You were righteous in everything that befell us, for you acted faithfully, but we were wicked.
34. Our kings, our princes, our priests and our fathers have not kept your Law, nor have they listened to your commandments and your warnings, with which you warned them.
35. Even when they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness, which you gave them, in the spacious and fertile land that you set before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn away from their evil deeds.
36. “Now we are slaves. Yes, in the land that you gave our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, we are slaves.
37. Its production increases for the kings you set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our body and over our flocks, as they please. We are in great distress!