Nehemiah 9:22-10:39

Contemporary English Version

²²^(A) You let them conquer kings
    and take their land,
including King Sihon of Heshbon
    and King Og of Bashan.^[a]
²³^(B) You brought them into the land
that you had promised
    their ancestors,
and you blessed their nation
with people that outnumbered
    the stars in the sky.

²⁴^(C) Then their descendants
    conquered the land.
You helped them defeat
    the kings and nations
and treat their enemies
    however they wished.
²⁵^(D) They captured strong cities
    and rich farmland;
they took furnished houses,
    as well as cisterns,^[b]
    vineyards, olive orchards,
    and numerous fruit trees.
They ate till they were satisfied,
and they celebrated
    your abundant blessings.

²⁶^(E)^(F) In spite of this, they rebelled
    and disobeyed your laws.
They killed your prophets,
    who warned them
to turn back to you,
    and they cursed your name.
²⁷So you handed them over
to their enemies,
    who treated them terribly.
But in their sufferings,
    they begged you to help.
From heaven you listened
    to their prayers
and because of your great mercy,
you sent leaders to rescue them.

²⁸^(G) But when they were at peace,
    they would turn against you,
and you would hand them over
    to their enemies.
Then they would beg for help,
and because you are merciful,
    you rescued them
    over and over again.
²⁹^(H) You warned them to turn back
and discover true life
    by obeying your laws.
But they stubbornly refused
    and continued to sin.
³⁰^(I) For years, you were patient,
    and your Spirit^[c] warned them
with messages spoken
    by your prophets.
Still they refused to listen,
and you handed them over
    to their enemies.
³¹But you are merciful and kind,
and so you never forgot them
    or let them be destroyed.

³²^(J) Our God, you are powerful,
fearsome, and faithful,
    always true to your word.
So please keep in mind
    the terrible sufferings
of our people, kings, leaders,
    priests, and prophets,
from the time Assyria ruled
    until this very day.
³³You have always been fair
when you punished us
    for our sins.

³⁴Our kings and leaders,
    our priests and ancestors
have never obeyed your commands
    or heeded your warnings.
³⁵You blessed them with a kingdom
and with an abundance
    of rich, fertile land,
but they refused to worship you
    or turn from their evil.
³⁶Now we are slaves
in this fruitful land
    you gave to our ancestors.
³⁷Its plentiful harvest is taken
by kings you placed over us
    because of our sins.
Our suffering is unbearable,
because they do as they wish
    to us and our livestock.

The People Make an Agreement

³⁸And so, a firm agreement was made that had the official approval of the leaders, the Levites, and priests. 10 ¹As governor, I^[d] signed the agreement together with Zedekiah and the following priests: ^2-8Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.

⁹The Levites who signed were: Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui from the clan of Henadad, Kadmiel, ¹⁰Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹²Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

¹⁴The leaders who signed were: Parosh, Pahath Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, ¹⁶Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, ¹⁷Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, ¹⁸Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, ¹⁹Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, ²⁰Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, ²¹Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, ²²Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, ²³Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, ²⁴Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, ²⁵Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, ²⁶Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

The Agreement

^28-29All of us, including priests, Levites, temple guards, singers, temple workers and leaders, together with our wives and children, have separated ourselves from the foreigners in this land and now enter into an agreement with a complete understanding of what we are doing. And so, we now place ourselves under the curse of the Lord our God, if we fail to obey his laws and teachings that were given to us by his servant Moses.

³⁰^(K) We won't let our sons and daughters marry foreigners.

³¹^(L) We won't buy goods or grain on the Sabbath or on any other sacred day, not even from foreigners.

Every seven years we will let our fields rest, and we will cancel all debts.

³²^(M) Once a year we will each donate a small amount of silver to the temple of our God. ³³This is to pay for the sacred bread, as well as for the daily sacrifices and special sacrifices such as those offered on the Sabbath and during the New Moon Festival and the other festivals. It will also pay for the sacrifices to forgive our sins and for all expenses connected with the worship of God in the temple.

³⁴We have decided that the families^[e] of priests, Levites, and ordinary people will supply firewood for the temple each year, so that sacrifices can be offered on the altar, just as the Lord our God has commanded.

³⁵^(N) Each year we will bring to the temple the first part of our harvest of grain and fruit.

³⁶^(O) We will bring our first-born sons and the first-born males of our herds and flocks and offer them to the priests who serve in the temple, because this is what is written in God's Law.^[f]

³⁷^(P) To the priests in the temple of our God, we will bring the bread dough from the first harvest, together with our best fruit, and an offering of new wine and olive oil.

We will bring ten percent of our grain harvest to those Levites who are responsible for collecting it in our towns. ³⁸^(Q) A priest from the family of Aaron must be there when we give this to the Levites. Then the Levites will put one tenth of this part in the temple storeroom, ³⁹which is also the place for the sacred objects used by the priests, the temple guards, and the singers.

Levites and everyone else must bring their gifts of grain, wine, and olive oil to this room.

We will not neglect the temple of our God.