Nehemiah 9 - Introduction

[A solemne fast.]

1 A solemne Fast, and repentance of the people.

4 The Leuites make a religious confession of Gods goodnes, and their wickednes.

1 Now in the [Note: Esther 8:2.] twentie and fourth day of this moneth, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, & with sackclothes, and earth vpon them.

2 And the seede of Israel separated themselues from all [Note: Hebrew: strage children.] strangers, and stood and confessed their sinnes, and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 And they stood vp in their place, and read in the booke 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.

4 Then stoode vp, vpon the [Note: Or, scaffold.] staires of the Leuites, Ieshua and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cryed with a loude voice vnto the Lord their God.

5 Then the Leuites, Ieshua and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodiiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, sayde, Stand vp, and blesse the Lord your God for euer and euer, and blessed bee thy glorious Name, which is exalted aboue all blessing and praise.

6 Thou, euen thou art Lord alone, [Note: Genesis 1:1.] thou hast made heauen, the heauen of heauens, with all their hoste, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therin, and thou preseruest them all, and the hoste of heauen worshippeth thee.

7 Thou art the Lord the God, who diddest choose [Note: Genesis 11:31; Genesis 12:1; Genesis 17:5.] Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Caldees, and gauest him the name of Abraham:

8 And foundest his heart [Note: Genesis 15:6.] faithfull before thee, & madest a [Note: Genesis 12:17; Genesis 15:18; Genesis 17:9.] couenant with him, to giue the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Iebusites, and the Girgashites, to giue it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words, for thou art righteous,

9 [Note: Exodus 3:7; Exodus 14:10.] And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the red Sea,

10 And shewedst signes [Note: Exodus 7:8; Exodus 10; Exodus 12; Exodus 14.] and wonders

[Gods benefits.]

vpon Pharaoh, and on all his seruants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudlie against them: so didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.

11 [Note: Exodus 14:22.] And thou didst diuide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the drie land, and their persecutours thou threwest into the deepes, as a stone into the mightie [Note: Exodus 15:10.] waters.

12 Moreouer thou [Note: Exodus 13:21.] leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night, by a pillar of fire, to giue them light in the way wherin they should go.

13 Thou [Note: Exodus 20:1; Exodus 19:20.] camest downe also vpon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heauen, and gauest them right iudgements, and [Note: Hebrew: lawes of trueth.] true lawes, good statutes and commandements:

14 And madest knowen vnto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and lawes, by the hand of Moses thy seruant:

15 And [Note: Exodus 16:15; Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:9.] gauest them bread from heauen for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rocke, for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should [Note: Deuteronomy 1:8.] goe in to possesse the land, [Note: Hebrew: which thou hadst lift vp thine hand to giue them.] which thou hadst sworne to giue them.

16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkned not to thy commandements:

17 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of the wonders that thou didst among them: but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed [Note: Numbers 14:4.] a captaine to returne to their bondage: but thou art [Note: Hebrew: a god of pardons.] a God ready to pardon, gracious and mercifull, slow to anger, and of great kindnes, & forsookest them not.

18 Yea [Note: Exodus 32:4.] when they had made them a molten calfe, and said, This is thy God, that brought thee vp out of Egypt, and had wrought great prouocations:

19 Yet thou, in thy manifold mercies, forsookest them not in the wildernesse: the [Note: Exodus 13:22; Numbers 14:14; 1 Corinthians 10:1.] pillar of the cloude departed not from them by day, to leade them in the way, neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherin they should goe.

20 Thou gauest also thy [Note: Numbers 11:17.] good spirit, to instruct them, and withheldest not thy [Note: Exodus 16:15; Exodus 17:6; Joshua 5:12.] Manna from their mouth, and gauest them water for their thirst.

21 Yea fourtie yeeres diddest thou sustaine them in the wildernesse, so that

[Mans ingratitude.]

they lacked nothing; their [Note: Deuteronomy 8:4.] clothes wared not old, and their feet swelled not.

22 Moreouer, thou gauest them kingdomes and nations, and didst diuide them into corners: so they possessed the land of [Note: Numbers 21:21, etc.] Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the starres of heauen, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should goe in to possesse it.

24 So the children went in, and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the lande, the Canaanites, and gauest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might doe with them, [Note: Hebrew: according to their will.] as they would.

25 And they tooke strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses ful of all goods, [Note: Or, cisternes.] welles digged, vineyards, and Olive yards, and [Note: Hebrew: tree of foode.] fruit trees in abundance: So they did eat and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselues in thy great goodnesse.

26 Neuerthelesse, they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backes, and slewe thy [Note: 1 Kings 19:20.] prophets, which testified against them to turne them to thee, and they wrought great prouocations.

27 Therefore thou deliueredst them into the hande of their enemies, who vexed them, & in the time of their trouble, when they cried vnto thee, thou heardest them from heauen: and according to thy manifold mercies, thou gauest them sauiours, who saued them out of the hand of their enemies.

28 But after they had rest, [Note: Hebrew: they returned to doe euill.] they did euill againe before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion ouer them: yet when they returned and cried vnto thee, thou heardest them from heauen, and many times didst thou deliuer them, according to thy mercies:

29 And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them againe vnto thy lawe: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not vnto thy commaundements, but sinned against thy iudgements, (which if a man doe, he shal liue in them) [Note: Hebrew: they gaue a withdrawing shoulder.] and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their necke, and would not heare.

[Who sealed the Couenant.]

30 Yet many yeres diddest thou [Note: Hebrew: protract ouer them.] forbeare them, and testifiedst [Note: 2 Kings 17:13; 2 Chronicles 36:15.] against them by the Spirit [Note: Hebrew: in the hand of thy Prophets.] in thy Prophets: yet would they not giue eare: therefore gauest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

31 Neuerthelesse, for thy great mercies sake, thou diddest not vtterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and mercifull God.

32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the [Note: Exodus 34:6.] mightie, and the terrible God, who keepest couenant and mercie: let not all the [Note: Hebrew: wearinesse.] trouble seeme little before thee, [Note: Hebrew: that hath found vs.] that hath come vpon vs, on our Kings, on our Princes, & on our Priests, and on our Prophets, & on our fathers, & on al thy people, since the time of the Kings of Assyria, vnto this day.

33 Howbeit, thou art iust in all that is brought vpon vs, for thou hast done right, but we haue done wickedly:

34 Neither haue our kings, our Princes, our Priests, nor our fathers kept thy Law, nor hearkened vnto thy Commandements, and thy Testimonies, wherewith thou didst testifie against them.

35 For they haue not serued thee in their kingdome, and in thy great goodnesse that thou gauest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gauest before them, neither turned they from their wicked workes.

36 Behold, we are seruants this day; and for the land that thou gauest vnto our fathers, to eat the fruit thereof, and the good thereof, behold, wee are seruants in it.

37 And it yeeldeth much increase vnto the kings, whom thou hast set ouer vs, because of our sinnes: also they haue dominion ouer our bodies, and ouer our cattell, at their pleasure; and wee are in great distresse.

38 And because of all this, wee make a sure couenant, and write it, and our Princes, Leuites, and Priestes, [Note: Hebrew: are at the sealing, or sealed.] seale vnto it.