Nehemiah 9
New King James Version
The People Confess Their Sins
9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of (A)this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, (B)and with [a]dust on their heads. 2 Then (C)those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and (D)confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and (E)read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the [b]stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said:
“Stand up and bless the Lord your God
Forever and ever!
“Blessed be (F)Your glorious name,
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 (G)You alone are the Lord;
(H)You have made heaven,
(I)The heaven of heavens, with (J)all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You (K)preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.
7 “You are the Lord God,
Who chose (L)Abram,
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
And gave him the name (M)Abraham;
8 You found his heart (N)faithful before You,
And made a (O)covenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites,
And the Girgashites—
To give it to his descendants.
You (P)have performed Your words,
For You are righteous.
9 “You(Q) saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And (R)heard their cry by the Red Sea.
10 You (S)showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants,
And against all the people of his land.
For You knew that they (T)acted [c]proudly against them.
So You (U)made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
11 (V)And You divided the sea before them,
So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
And their persecutors You threw into the deep,
(W)As a stone into the mighty waters.
12 Moreover You (X)led them by day with a cloudy pillar,
And by night with a pillar of fire,
To give them light on the road
Which they should travel.
13 “You(Y) came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven,
And gave them (Z)just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 You made known to them Your (AA)holy Sabbath,
And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,
By the hand of Moses Your servant.
15 You (AB)gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And (AC)brought them water out of the rock for their thirst,
And told them to (AD)go in to possess the land
Which You had [d]sworn to give them.
16 “But(AE) they and our fathers acted [e]proudly,
(AF)Hardened[f] their necks,
And did not heed Your commandments.
17 They refused to obey,
And (AG)they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them.
But they hardened their necks,
And [g]in their rebellion
They appointed (AH)a leader
To return to their bondage.
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
(AI)Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.
18 “Even (AJ)when they made a molded calf for themselves,
And said, ‘This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,’
And worked great provocations,
19 Yet in Your (AK)manifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness.
The (AL)pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road;
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To show them light,
And the way they should go.
20 You also gave Your (AM)good Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your (AN)manna from their mouth,
And gave them (AO)water for their thirst.
21 (AP)Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;
They lacked nothing;
Their (AQ)clothes did not wear out
And their feet did not swell.
22 “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into [h]districts.
So they took possession of the land of (AR)Sihon,
[i]The land of the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23 You also multiplied (AS)their children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.
24 So (AT)the [j]people went in
And possessed the land;
(AU)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.
25 And they took strong cities and a (AV)rich land,
And possessed (AW)houses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And [k]fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and (AX)grew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great (AY)goodness.
26 “Nevertheless they (AZ)were disobedient
And rebelled against You,
(BA)Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your (BB)prophets, who [l]testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.
27 (BC)Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You (BD)heard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
(BE)You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.
28 “But after they had rest,
(BF)They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And (BG)many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And [m]testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted [n]proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,
(BH)‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’
And they shrugged their shoulders,
[o]Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.
30 Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And [p]testified (BI)against them by Your Spirit (BJ)in Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
(BK)Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy
(BL)You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.
32 “Now therefore, our God,
The great, the (BM)mighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the [q]trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
(BN)From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33 However (BO)You are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But (BP)we have done wickedly.
34 Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.
35 For they have (BQ)not served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.
36 “Here (BR)we are, servants today!
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!
37 And (BS)it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have (BT)dominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.
38 “And because of all this,
We (BU)make a sure covenant and write it;
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests (BV)seal it.”
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 9:1 Lit. earth on them
- Nehemiah 9:4 Lit. ascent
- Nehemiah 9:10 presumptuously or insolently
- Nehemiah 9:15 Lit. raised Your hand to
- Nehemiah 9:16 presumptuously
- Nehemiah 9:16 Stiffened their necks, became stubborn
- Nehemiah 9:17 So with MT, Vg.; LXX in Egypt
- Nehemiah 9:22 Lit. corners
- Nehemiah 9:22 So with MT, Vg.; LXX omits The land of
- Nehemiah 9:24 Lit. sons
- Nehemiah 9:25 Lit. trees for eating
- Nehemiah 9:26 admonished or warned them
- Nehemiah 9:29 admonished them
- Nehemiah 9:29 presumptuously
- Nehemiah 9:29 Became stubborn
- Nehemiah 9:30 admonished or warned them
- Nehemiah 9:32 hardship
Nehemiah 9
Amplified Bible
The People Confess Their Sin
9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with dirt [a]on their heads. 2 The [b]descendants of Israel (Jacob) separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers. 3 While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and for another fourth [of it] they confessed [their sins] and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 On the platform of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they called out with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
5 Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless (praise, honor) the Lord your God from [c]everlasting to everlasting.
May Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise.”
6
[And Ezra said],
“You are the Lord, You alone;
You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host (the heavenly bodies),
The earth and everything that is on it,
The seas and everything that is in them.
You give life to all of them,
And the heavenly host is bowing down [in worship] to You.
7
“You are the Lord God,
Who chose Abram
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees,
And gave him the name Abraham.
8
“You found his heart to be faithful [d]before You,
And You [e]made a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite, of the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—
To give it to his descendants.
And You have fulfilled Your promise,
For You are righteous and just.
9
“You saw our fathers’ affliction in Egypt,
And You heard their cry by the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).
10
“Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that they behaved arrogantly toward them (the Israelites),
And You made a name for Yourself, as it is to this day.
11
“You divided the sea before them,
So that they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;
You hurled their pursuers into the depths,
Like a stone into mighty and raging waters.
12
“And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light the way for them
In which they were to go.
13
“Then You came down on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven;
And You gave them fair ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14
“So You made known to them Your holy Sabbath,
And gave them commandments, statutes, and law,
[f]Through Your servant Moses.
15
“You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And brought water for them out of a rock for their thirst,
And You told them to enter and take possession of
The land that You [g]swore to give them.(A)
16
“But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They stiffened their necks and would not heed Your commandments.
17
“They refused to listen and obey,
And did not remember Your wondrous acts which You had performed among them;
So they stiffened their necks and [in their rebellion] appointed a leader in order to return them to slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and merciful and compassionate,
[h]Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not abandon them.(B)
18
“Even when they had made for themselves
A [i]calf of cast metal
And said, ‘This is your god
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies,
19
You, in Your great mercy and compassion,
Did not abandon them in the wilderness;
The pillar of the cloud did not leave them by day,
To lead them in the way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way they should go.
20
“You [also] gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21
“Indeed, for forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing,
Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.
22
“You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And You allotted the kingdoms to them as a boundary.
So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23
“You made their children as numerous as the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You told their fathers to enter and possess.
24
“So their sons (descendants) went in and took possession of the land;
And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them as they pleased.
25
“They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.
They took possession of houses full of all good things,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
And [j]fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and became fat,
And they reveled and were delighted in Your great goodness.
26
“Yet they were disobedient and rebelled against You,
And cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets who warned them
To return to You;
And they committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies.
27
“Therefore You handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them.
But when they cried out to You in the time of their suffering and distress,
You heard them from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You gave them [k]people to rescue them.
Who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28
“But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil before You;
Therefore You abandoned them into the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them.
Yet when they turned and cried out again to You, You heard them from heaven,
And You rescued them many times in accordance with Your compassion,
29
And You admonished them and warned them to turn them back to Your law.
Yet they acted presumptuously and arrogantly and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your ordinances,
Which by keeping, a man will live.
But they turned a stubborn shoulder, stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30
“Yet You were patient with them for many years,
And admonished them and warned them by Your Spirit through Your prophets;
Still they would not [l]listen.
Therefore You gave them into the hand (power) of the peoples of the lands.
31
“Yet in Your great compassion You did not utterly destroy them or abandon them,
For You are a gracious and merciful God.
32
“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,
Since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33
“However, You are just and righteous in everything that has come upon us;
For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
34
Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your law
Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your warnings which You have given them.
35
“But they, in their kingdom,
With Your great goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You set before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their wicked deeds.
36
“Behold, we are slaves today,
And as for the land which You gave our fathers, to eat of its fruit and its goodness,
Behold, we are slaves in it.
37
“Its abundant produce is for the kings
Whom You have set over us because of our sins;
They also rule over our bodies
And over our cattle as they please,
So we are in great distress.
A Covenant Results
38
“[m]Now because of all this
We are making an agreement in writing;
And on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.”
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 9:1 Lit upon them.
- Nehemiah 9:2 Lit seed.
- Nehemiah 9:5 Lit from the eternity to the eternity.
- Nehemiah 9:8 Lit before Your face.
- Nehemiah 9:8 Lit cut.
- Nehemiah 9:14 Lit by the hand of.
- Nehemiah 9:15 Lit lifted up Your hand.
- Nehemiah 9:17 Lit with a long nose.
- Nehemiah 9:18 The selection of a calf-god was probably inspired by the Egyptian bull-god Apis (Hapis), believed to be a living manifestation of the Egyptian god, Ptah. In ancient Egypt, a bull-calf with specific markings was chosen from the herd and worshiped as Apis. The Apis was the most important of the sacred animals of Egypt. At the age of twenty-eight the Apis bull was sacrificed and buried in a highly structured ritual and a new bull-calf was selected to take his place. Numerous elaborate burial sites containing the Apis bulls have been discovered in Egypt. Both the Greeks and Romans adopted the cultic worship of Apis and it continued until about a.d. 400.
- Nehemiah 9:25 Lit food.
- Nehemiah 9:27 Lit deliverers.
- Nehemiah 9:30 Lit give ear.
- Nehemiah 9:38 Ch 10:1 in Hebrew.
Nehemiah 9
New Living Translation
The People Confess Their Sins
9 On October 31[a] the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3 They remained standing in place for three hours[b] while the Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the stairway of the Levites and cried out to the Lord their God with loud voices.
5 Then the leaders of the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—called out to the people: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” Then they prayed:
“May your glorious name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 “You alone are the Lord. You made the skies and the heavens and all the stars. You made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve them all, and the angels of heaven worship you.
7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and renamed him Abraham. 8 When he had proved himself faithful, you made a covenant with him to give him and his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. And you have done what you promised, for you are always true to your word.
9 “You saw the misery of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cries from beside the Red Sea.[c] 10 You displayed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, his officials, and all his people, for you knew how arrogantly they were treating our ancestors. You have a glorious reputation that has never been forgotten. 11 You divided the sea for your people so they could walk through on dry land! And then you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea. They sank like stones beneath the mighty waters. 12 You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night so that they could find their way.
13 “You came down at Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and instructions that were just, and decrees and commands that were good. 14 You instructed them concerning your holy Sabbath. And you commanded them, through Moses your servant, to obey all your commands, decrees, and instructions.
15 “You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty. You commanded them to go and take possession of the land you had sworn to give them.
16 “But our ancestors were proud and stubborn, and they paid no attention to your commands. 17 They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt.[d] But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them, 18 even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies.
19 “But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud still led them forward by day, and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night. 20 You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell!
22 “Then you helped our ancestors conquer kingdoms and nations, and you placed your people in every corner of the land.[e] They took over the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan. 23 You made their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and brought them into the land you had promised to their ancestors.
24 “They went in and took possession of the land. You subdued whole nations before them. Even the Canaanites, who inhabited the land, were powerless! Your people could deal with these nations and their kings as they pleased. 25 Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.
26 “But despite all this, 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 terrible blasphemies. 27 So you handed them over to their enemies, who made them suffer. But in their time of trouble they cried to you, and you heard them from heaven. In your great mercy, you sent them liberators who rescued them from their enemies.
28 “But as soon as they were at peace, your people again committed evil in your sight, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people turned and cried to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times!
29 “You warned them to return to your Law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your regulations, by which people will find life if only they obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen. 30 In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them. 31 But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!
32 “And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered seem insignificant to you. Great trouble has come upon us and upon our kings and leaders and priests and prophets and ancestors—all of your people—from the days when the kings of Assyria first triumphed over us until now. 33 Every time you punished us you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved. 34 Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey your Law or listen to the warnings in your commands and laws. 35 Even while they had their own kingdom, they did not serve you, though you showered your goodness on them. You gave them a large, fertile land, but they refused to turn from their wickedness.
36 “So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! We are slaves here in this good land. 37 The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They have power over us and our livestock. We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.”
The People Agree to Obey
38 [f]The people responded, “In view of all this,[g] we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests.”
Footnotes
- 9:1 Hebrew On the twenty-fourth day of that same month, the seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was October 31, 445 B.c.; also see notes on 1:1 and 8:2.
- 9:3 Hebrew for a quarter of a day.
- 9:9 Hebrew sea of reeds.
- 9:17 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads in their rebellion.
- 9:22 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 9:38a Verse 9:38 is numbered 10:1 in Hebrew text.
- 9:38b Or In spite of all this.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
