NEHEMIAH
Nehemiah Chapter 9
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¶ Now on the twenty-fourth day of that month the
children of
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And the descendants of
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And they stood up in their place, and read from the book of the law of the LORD
their God for one fourth of the day; and for another fourth they
confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.
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¶ Then the Levites, Jeshua, Bani,
Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, stood up on
the stairs and cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.
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Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel,
Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah,
said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and
blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
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You, even you, are LORD alone; you have made heaven, the heaven
of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things
that are in it, the seas, and all that is in it, and you preserve
them all; and the host of heaven worships you.
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You are the LORD the God, who chose Abram, and brought him forth out of
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And found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give
the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites,
the Jebusites, and the Girgashites,
to his descendants, and have done what you said; for you are righteous:
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And saw the affliction of our fathers in
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And performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants,
and all the people of his land: for you knew that they were treating them
arrogantly. And you gained a reputation, which you still have today.
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And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of
the sea on dry land; and threw their persecutors into the depths, like a stone
into churning waters.
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Moreover you led them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a
pillar of fire, to give them light along the way in which they should go.
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You also came down upon mount Sinai, and spoke with
them from heaven, and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes
and commandments:
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And made known to them your holy sabbath,
and gave them commandments, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses your
servant:
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And gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water for
them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should go in
to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.
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But they and our fathers acted proudly, and stiffened their necks, and would
not listen to your commandments,
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They refused to obey, nor were they mindful of your wonders that you did among
them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a leader that
they might return to their bondage: but you are a God who is ready to
pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and you
did not forsake them.
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Yea, when they had made themselves a molten calf, and said, This
is your God which brought you up out of
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Yet you in your great mercy did not forsake them in the wilderness: the pillar
of the cloud did not depart from them during the day, but lead them in the way; nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them
light, and the way in which they should go.
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You also gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your
manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.
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Yea, you sustained them for forty years in the wilderness, so that they
lacked nothing; their clothes did not grow old, and their feet did not swell.
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Moreover you gave them kingdoms and nations, and
assigned boundaries to them: so they possessed the
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You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and brought them
into the land, that you had promised their fathers, that they would go in and
possess.
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So the children went in and possessed the land, and you subdued the inhabitants
of the land before them, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with
their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they
would.
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And they took strong cities, and a rich land, and took possession of houses
full of all good things, wells that were dug, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they ate, and
were filled, and got fat, and delighted themselves in
your great goodness.
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Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, and turned their
backs on your law, and killed your prophets who testified against them in order
to turn them back to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.
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Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them:
and in the time of their trouble, when they cried to you, you heard them
from heaven; and according to your manifold mercies you gave them deliverers,
who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
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But after they had peace, they did evil again before you: therefore you left
them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet
when they returned, and cried to you, you heard them from heaven; and
many times you delivered them according to your mercies;
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And testified against them, that you might bring them back to your law: yet
they dealt proudly, and did not listen to your commandments, but sinned against
your judgments, (which if a man keeps, he will find life in them;)
and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not listen.
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Yet you bore with them for many years, and testified against them by your
spirit in your prophets: yet they would not give ear: therefore you gave them
into the hand of the people of the lands.
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Nevertheless for your great mercies’ sake you did not utterly destroy them, or
forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.
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Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keeps
covenant and mercy, do not view lightly all the trouble, that has come upon us,
on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, on our prophets, on our fathers,
and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.
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However you are just in all that is brought upon us; for you have done
right, but we have done wickedly:
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Nor have our kings, our princes, our priests, or our fathers, kept your law, or
hearkened to your commandments and your testimonies, by which you testified
against them.
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For they have not served you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that
you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you gave them, nor did they
turn from their wicked works.
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Behold, we are servants this day, in the land that you gave to our
ancestors so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness, behold, we are
servants in it:
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And it yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of
our sins: they also have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at
their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
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And because of all this we are making a firm agreement, in writing; and our
princes, Levites, and priests, set their seal to it.