Confession, Praise, and a Recital of Israel's History
Nehemiah 9:1-37
1On the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel gathered with fasting and in sackcloth, and dust upon them.2The seed of Israel separated themselves from all the sons of foreigners; they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.3They rose upon their post and read from the scroll of the instruction of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day, and for a fourth they were confessing and bowing to the LORD their God.4Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani rose upon the ascent of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the LORD their God.5The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, Rise, bless the LORD your God from the age to the age; and let them bless the name of your glory, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.6You are he, the LORD, alone; you made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is upon it, the seas and all that is in them; and you give life to all of them, and the host of the heavens bows down to you.7You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldea and gave him the name Abraham.8You found his heart faithful before you and cut a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite to his seed, and you established your words, for you are righteous.9You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their outcry upon the sea of Reeds.10You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh and against all his servants and against all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against them, and you made for yourself a name as this day.11You divided the sea before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and you threw their pursuers into the depths like a stone in strong waters.12By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they should go.13You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven; you gave them just rules, true instructions, and good statutes and commandments.14You made known to them your holy Sabbath and commandments and statutes and instruction you commanded them by the hand of Moses your servant.15You gave them bread from heaven for their famine and brought water from the rock for their thirst, and you told them to come in to possess the land that you lifted your hand to give them.16But they and our fathers acted arrogantly and stiffened their neck and did not listen to your commandments.17They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders that you did among them; they stiffened their neck and gave a head to return to their slavery in their rebellion. Yet you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow of anger and abounding in kindness, and you did not forsake them.18Even when they made for themselves a calf of casting and said, This is your God who brought you up from Egypt, and they did great contempts.19Yet you in your great compassions did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not turn aside from them by day to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night to give light for them and the way in which they should walk.20You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and you did not withhold your manna from their mouth, and you gave them water for their thirst.21For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; their garments did not wear out and their feet did not swell.22You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted them as their portion; they took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of King Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.23You multiplied their sons like the stars of the heavens and brought them to the land that you had said to their fathers to come in to possess.24So the sons came in and possessed the land, and you humbled before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand with their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them according to their will.25They captured fortified cities and rich land and possessed houses full of all good things, hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and food trees in abundance; they ate and were satisfied and grew fat and luxuriated in your great goodness.26They rebelled and cast your instruction behind their back and killed your prophets who had testified against them to turn them back to you, and they did great contempts.27You gave them into the hand of their enemies, who distressed them; in the time of their distress they cried out to you, and from heaven you heard and gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies according to your great compassions.28But when they had rest they returned to do evil before you; therefore you abandoned them into the hand of their enemies, who ruled over them; when they cried out to you again you heard from heaven and rescued them many times according to your compassions.29You testified against them to turn them back to your instruction, yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments and sinned against your rules by which a man lives if he keeps them; they gave a rebellious shoulder and stiffened their neck and did not listen.30You drew out many years upon them and testified against them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen; therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.31Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.32And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps covenant and kindness, let not all the hardship that has found us seem small before you, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day, for our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people.33You are righteous upon all that has come upon us, for you have done truth while we have acted wickedly.34Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your instruction or listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you warned them.35Even while they were in their kingdom and in your great goodness that you gave them, and in the broad and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their evil deeds.36Behold, today we are servants, and the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its goodness—behold, we are servants upon it.37Its abundant produce goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins; they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.