Nehemiah 9

Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

On the 24th day of the month, the people of Israel gathered. They fasted, wore simple sackcloth, and covered themselves in dust, expressing their deep humility and repentance.

And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all outsiders, stood, and openly confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors, filled with remorse and determination.

And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.

They rose, dedicating half their day to God. They spent a quarter of it reading His holy law, and another quarter in heartfelt confession and worship.

Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.

Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, all Levites, stood on the stairs. With deep emotion, they raised their voices, crying out passionately to their God.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

The Levites, along with Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, passionately urged everyone, "Rise and honor the LORD, your God, eternally. May His magnificent name, which is above all praise and blessings, be forever blessed."

Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

You, and only You, are the Lord. You've crafted the skies, the stars, the earth, and everything in it, including the oceans and all they contain. You keep them all alive. Even the stars in the sky bow down to You.

Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;

You are the Lord, our God, who lovingly chose Abram. You led him out of Ur in Chaldea and blessed him with the new name, Abraham.

And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

You saw his unwavering faith, and in response, you made a covenant with him. You pledged to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You kept your word, showing your righteousness.

And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;

You witnessed the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt, and heard their desperate pleas by the Red Sea.

And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.

You displayed miracles to Pharaoh, his servants, and his people, because you knew their arrogance. Thus, you made your name known, as it is today.

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

You parted the sea for them, allowing them to cross on dry land. You hurled their tormentors into the depths, like a stone sinking in powerful waters.

Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.

You guided them during the day with a cloud, and at night with a fiery light, showing them the path they needed to follow.

Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:

You descended upon Mount Sinai, speaking to them from the heavens. You gifted them with fair judgments, authentic laws, and good commandments.

And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

You revealed to them your sacred day of rest, and through your servant Moses, you gave them rules, regulations, and laws to follow.

And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

You lovingly provided heavenly bread to satisfy their hunger, and miraculously drew water from a rock to quench their thirst. You faithfully assured them they would inherit the land you had solemnly promised to them.

But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

But they, along with our ancestors, acted arrogantly, stubbornly refusing to listen to your instructions.

And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

They stubbornly ignored the miracles you performed among them, and in their rebellion they chose a leader to take them back to their chains. Yet you are a forgiving God, full of grace and mercy, slow to anger and of immense kindness, and you never abandoned them.

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

Indeed, they crafted a golden calf, declaring, "This is your God who freed you from Egypt," causing immense outrage.

Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

Despite their struggles, your abundant kindness never left them alone in the wilderness. The guiding cloud didn't abandon them during the day, nor did the fiery pillar at night, always lighting their path and showing them the way.

Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

You generously shared your guiding spirit with them, never denying them food or water when they were hungry or thirsty.

Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

For forty years, you lovingly provided for them in the wilderness. They never lacked anything; their clothes never wore out, and their feet never ached.

Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

You generously gifted them with vast kingdoms and nations, dividing them across the land. They came to own the territories of Sihon, Heshbon's king, and Og, the king of Bashan.

Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

You blessed their children abundantly, as numerous as the stars in the sky, and led them to the land you promised their ancestors, a land they were destined to make their own.

So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

The children bravely claimed the land, their hearts pounding with anticipation. You, in your divine power, humbled the Canaanites before them, delivering their kings and the people of the land into their hands, to do with them as they wished.

And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

They conquered mighty cities and fertile lands, inheriting homes filled with riches, wells, vineyards, olive groves, and plentiful fruit trees. They feasted to their heart's content, grew prosperous, and reveled in your abundant kindness.

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

Despite your guidance, they disobeyed and rebelled against you, and threw your teachings behind their backs. They killed your prophets who warned them to come back to you, and they committed grave offenses.

Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

So, you allowed their enemies to torment them. But when they were in distress and cried out to you, you heard their pleas from heaven. Out of your abundant kindness, you provided them with rescuers who saved them from their foes.

But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;

After they found peace, they fell back into wickedness, causing you to abandon them to their foes who ruled over them. Yet, when they repented and cried out to you, you heard their pleas from heaven. Time and again, you saved them, showing your boundless mercy.

And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

You warned them, hoping to guide them back to your teachings. But they were arrogant, ignoring your commands and sinning against your laws, the very laws that give life to anyone who keeps them. They turned a stubborn shoulder, hardened their necks, and refused to listen.

Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

For many years, you showed them patience, speaking through your prophets with your spirit. But they wouldn't listen, so you allowed them to be conquered by foreign nations.

Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

Despite their faults, you didn't abandon them or let them be destroyed, because your love and mercy are immense, oh God.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

Our God, so grand and powerful, yet full of mercy, don't overlook the hardships we've endured. Our leaders, priests, prophets, ancestors, and all your people have suffered since the reign of the Assyrian kings till now.

Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

Despite our hardships, we acknowledge your fairness. You've acted rightly, while we've strayed into wrongdoing.

Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors have all failed to follow your laws or listen to your commands and warnings.

For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

Despite being blessed with a prosperous kingdom and your abundant goodness, they failed to honor you. They continued their wrongdoings, ignoring the bountiful land you provided.

Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

Look at us today: we are slaves. In the very land you gave our ancestors so they could enjoy its fruit and its good things, here we are, slaves.

And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

The kings you've appointed due to our wrongdoings are prospering greatly. They control us and our livestock as they wish, leaving us in deep anguish.

And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

In light of all we've experienced, we commit to a solid agreement, putting it in writing. Our leaders, spiritual guides, and priests, affirm it with their seal.