Nehemiah 9

1On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites gathered together, fasting, dressed in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. 2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood and confessed their sins and the wrongs of their ancestors. 3They stood in their places and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and for another quarter they confessed their sins and worshiped the LORD their God.

4On the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to the LORD their God. 5Then the Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God, from everlasting to everlasting! May your glorious name be blessed, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 6You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, the highest heavens and 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 host of heaven worships you. 7You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8You found his heart faithful before you, and you made a 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. And you have kept your word, for you are righteous. 9You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea. 10You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and against all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly they had treated our ancestors. And you made a name for yourself that remains to this day. 11You split the sea open before them, and they went through the middle of the sea on dry ground. But you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire, to light up the way for them in which they should go. 13You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them right rulings and true laws, good statutes and commandments. 14You made known to them your holy Sabbath, and through Moses your servant you commanded them commandments, statutes and law. 15You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry, and brought water out of the rock for them when they were thirsty. And you told them to go in and take possession of the land that you had sworn to give them. 16But they, our ancestors, acted arrogantly. They stiffened their necks and would not obey your commandments. 17They refused to listen and did not remember the wonders you had done among them. They stiffened their necks and in their rebellion appointed a leader to go back to their slavery. But you are a God who forgives, gracious and full of compassion, slow to become angry and rich in faithful love, and you did not abandon them. 18Even when they made for themselves a calf of cast metal and said, ‘This is your god who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and committed great blasphemies, 19you in your great compassion did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, to lead them on their way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light up the way they should go. 20You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not hold back your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21For forty years you provided for them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. 22You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and allotted them every region as their share. They took possession of the land of Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23You made their children as many as the stars of the sky, and you brought them into the land that you had told their ancestors to enter and possess. 24So the children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who lived in the land and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in plenty. They ate and were filled and grew fat, and they delighted in your great goodness. 26But they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They threw your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they cried out to you, and you heard from heaven, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers who rescued them from the power of their enemies. 28But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in your sight, and you abandoned them to their enemies, who ruled over them. When they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you rescued them many times. 29You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, yet they acted arrogantly and would not obey your commandments. They sinned against your rulings, by which anyone who keeps them will live. They turned a stubborn shoulder, stiffened their necks and would not obey. 30For many years you were patient with them, and you warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. But they would not listen, so you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31Yet in your great compassion you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and compassionate God. 32So now, our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps covenant and faithful love, do not treat as small before you all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us; you have acted faithfully, while we have done wrong. 34Our kings, our officials, our priests and our ancestors did not keep your law or pay attention to your commandments and the decrees by which you warned them. 35Even in their own kingdom, with your great goodness that you gave them, and in the broad and fertile land you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil deeds. 36See, we are slaves today, slaves in the very land you gave our ancestors so that they could eat its fruit and enjoy its good things. 37Its rich produce goes to the kings you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.”

38Because of all this, we are making a binding agreement and putting it in writing. On the sealed document are the names of our officials, our Levites and our priests.