Nehemiah 9:22-38

New American Standard Bible

²² You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And allotted them to them as a ^[a]boundary.
^(A)They took possession of the land of Sihon ^[b]the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
²³ You made their sons as numerous as ^(B)the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
^24 (C)So their sons entered and took possession of the land.
And ^(D)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You handed them over to them, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them ^[c]as they desired.
^25 (E)They captured fortified cities and a ^[d](F)fertile land.
They took possession of ^(G)houses full of every good thing,
Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate, were filled and ^(H)put on fat,
And ^(I)lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.

²⁶ “^(J)But they became rebellious and revolted against You,
And ^(K)threw Your Law behind their backs
And ^(L)killed Your prophets who had ^(M)admonished them
In order to bring them back to You,
And ^(N)they committed great blasphemies.
²⁷ Therefore You ^(O)handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them,
But when they cried out to You ^(P)in the time of their distress,
You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion
You ^(Q)gave them ^[e]people who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
²⁸ But ^(R)as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You;
Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them.
When they cried out again to You, You heard from heaven,
And ^(S)many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,
²⁹ And ^(T)admonished them in order to turn them back to Your Law.
Yet ^(U)they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances,
^(V)Which, if a person ^[f]follows them, then he will live by them.
And they ^[g](W)turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
^30 (X)However, You remained patient with them for many years,
And ^(Y)admonished them by ^(Z)Your Spirit through Your prophets,
Yet they would not listen.
Therefore You handed them over to the peoples of the lands.
³¹ Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You ^(AA)did not make an end of them or abandon them,
For You are ^(AB)a gracious and compassionate God.

³² “Now then, our God, ^(AC)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has happened to us, our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and to all Your people,
^(AD)From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
³³ However, ^(AE)You are righteous in everything that has happened to us;
For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
³⁴ For our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your Law
Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your ^[h]admonitions with which You have ^[i]admonished them.
³⁵ But ^(AF)they, in their own kingdom,
^(AG)With Your great goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You placed before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.
³⁶ Behold, ^(AH)we are slaves today,
And as for the land which You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its bounty,
Behold, we are slaves on it.
³⁷ And ^(AI)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.