Nehemiah 9:1-21 ▼

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel gathered with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them.

2 The seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 And they rose up in their place and read from the book of the law of Yahweh their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they were confessing and worshipping Yahweh their God.

4 Then Jeshua rose up on the Levites’ platform, along with Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God.

5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Rise up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise!

6 You alone are Yahweh. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down to You.

7 You are Yahweh God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham.

8 You found his heart faithful before You, And cut a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite— To give it to his seed. And You have established Your promise, For You are righteous.

9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea.

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 acted presumptuously toward them, And made a name for Yourself as it is this day.

11 You split the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land; And their pursuers You cast into the depths, Like a stone into mighty waters.

12 And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go.

13 Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; You gave them upright judgments and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.

14 So You made known to them Your holy sabbath, And commanded to them commandments, statutes and law, By the hand of Your servant Moses.

15 You gave bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You said to them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore to give them.

16 “But they, our fathers, acted presumptuously; They became stiff-necked and would not listen to Your commandments.

17 They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them; So they became stiff-necked and gave themselves a chief to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of lavish forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.

18 Even when they made for themselves A molten calf And said, ‘This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies,

19 But You, in Your abundant compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day, To lead them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, To light for them the way in which they were to go.

20 You gave Your good Spirit to give them insight, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

21 Indeed, forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they did not lack; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.