Nehemiah 9

On the twenty-fourth day of that same month, the people of Israel gathered together. They went without food, wore rough cloth, and put earth on themselves.

1Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

Note"That same month" is the seventh month (Tishri), continuing from chapter 8; the twenty-fourth day falls two days after the week-long Festival of Booths ended. Going without food, wearing sackcloth (a coarse, scratchy cloth woven from goat hair) and putting dust or ashes on the head were the standard public signs of grief and self-humbling in the ancient Near East, a visible, recognizable costume of mourning rather than a private mood.

2Those who were descended from Israel separated themselves from all the foreigners. They stood and confessed their own sins and the wrongs their ancestors had done.

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

Note"Those who were descended from Israel" translates a phrase meaning literally "the seed of Israel", people who could trace their ancestry to the patriarch Jacob, also named Israel. Separating from foreigners here is a formal step in assembling the group that will swear the agreement in verse 38; the same issue of marriage to outsiders comes up again in chapter 13.

3They stood where they were and read aloud from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed their sins and worshiped the LORD their God.

3And they stood up in their place, and read in the book 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.

NoteThe "Book of the Law" is the law given through Moses, the material now found in the first five books of the Bible. "A quarter of the day" means a quarter of the daylight hours, roughly three hours; so about three hours of reading and about three hours of confession and worship.

4Then some of the Levites stood up on the raised platform: Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani. They called out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.

4Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.

NoteThe Levites were members of the tribe of Levi, set apart for service at the temple. They were not the sacrificing priests (those came from one Levite family, Aaron's) but assisted them, and served as singers, gatekeepers, and teachers who explained the law to the people, the role they are performing here.

5Then the Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, "Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who lives forever and ever. Blessed be your glorious name, which is lifted higher than all blessing and praise.

5Then 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 thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

NoteTo "bless" God does not mean to confer something on him; in Hebrew it means to praise or speak well of him, the opposite direction from blessing a person. The phrase behind "who lives forever and ever" is literally "from everlasting to everlasting," and it can attach either to God's own duration or to the act of praising him, "praise the LORD from age to age." Both readings are possible.

6You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, with everything in them. You made the earth and all that is on it, and the seas and all that is in them. You keep them all alive, and the host of heaven worships you.

6Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

Note"The heavens, even the highest heavens" renders a Hebrew way of forming a superlative, literally "the heaven of heavens," meaning the very highest sky. "The host of heaven" is a military word for an army or a great array, and can mean the stars viewed as a marshalled multitude, or heavenly beings serving God; the phrase carries both senses in the Hebrew Bible.

7You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram. You brought him out of Ur, the city of the Chaldeans, and you gave him the name Abraham.

7Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;

NoteUr was an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq. The Chaldeans were the people who controlled that region much later, in the Babylonian era; the name is used here as a familiar label for the area rather than a description of Abraham's own time. The change of name from Abram to Abraham is recorded in Genesis 17.

8You found that his heart was faithful to you, and you made an agreement with him to give him a land. It was the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites, and you promised to give it to his descendants. You have kept your word, because you do what is right.

8And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

NoteAn "agreement" here translates the word usually rendered "covenant", a formal, binding pact with stated obligations, like a treaty between a king and his subjects. The six peoples listed are the inhabitants of Canaan before Israel settled there; such lists appear throughout the Hebrew Bible as a stock way of naming the land's earlier population.

9You saw how our ancestors suffered in Egypt. You heard them cry out at the Red Sea.

9And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;

NoteThe Hebrew name is yam suph, which means "sea of reeds." The traditional English "Red Sea" comes from the ancient Greek translation. Exactly which body of water is meant is disputed.

10You did signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials, and against all the people of his land. You knew how arrogantly the Egyptians had treated our ancestors. So you made a name for yourself, a name that lasts to this day.

10And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.

Note"Signs and wonders" is the standard phrase for the plagues sent on Egypt in the book of Exodus. To "make a name for yourself" means to establish a public reputation that others hear of and remember.

11You split the sea open in front of them, and they walked through the middle of it on dry ground. You threw the men who were chasing them into the deep water, like a stone thrown into raging waters.

11And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.

12You also led them by day with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire, to light up the road they were to travel.

12Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.

NoteThe pillar of cloud and pillar of fire are from the exodus story in Exodus 13: a column of cloud that went ahead of the people by day and appeared as fire at night, marking the route and God's presence with them.

13You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them fair decisions and true laws, and good rules and commands.

13Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:

NoteMount Sinai is the mountain in the wilderness where, according to Exodus, the law was given to Moses after the escape from Egypt. Its exact location is unknown.

14You made known to them your holy Sabbath day. You gave them commands, rules, and laws through your servant Moses.

14And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

NoteThe Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, set apart for rest from work. The word itself comes from a Hebrew verb meaning to stop or cease.

15When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven. When they were thirsty, you brought them water out of a rock. You told them to go in and take the land you had sworn to give them.

15And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

Note"Bread from heaven" refers to the manna described in verse 20, the food said to have appeared on the ground each morning during the wilderness years. The water from the rock refers to episodes in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20.

16But they and our ancestors acted proudly. They became stubborn and would not obey your commands.

16But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

Note"Became stubborn" translates a Hebrew idiom, "stiffened their necks": the picture is a plow ox that braces its neck and refuses to turn under the yoke. The same image returns in verses 17 and 29.

17They refused to listen, and they did not remember the wonders you had done among them. They became stubborn, and in their rebellion they chose a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God who is ready to forgive, kind and full of pity, slow to get angry, and rich in faithful love, and you did not abandon them.

17And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

NoteThe episode is in Numbers 14, where the people, frightened by reports of the land ahead, proposed choosing a leader to take them back to Egypt. The description of God that follows (forgiving, gracious, slow to anger, rich in faithful love) is a fixed formula quoted from Exodus 34:6, and a reader in this period would have recognized it as a set phrase.

18They even made themselves a calf out of melted metal and said, "This is your God, who brought you up out of Egypt." They insulted you terribly.

18Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

NoteThe calf of melted metal is the golden calf of Exodus 32, made while Moses was on the mountain. "Insulted you terribly" translates a word for acts of open contempt toward God.

19Even then, because your pity was so great, you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud never stopped leading them on their way, and by night the pillar of fire kept showing them light and the road they should take.

19Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

20You also gave them your good Spirit to teach them. You did not hold back your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water when they were thirsty.

20Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

NoteManna is the name given to the food that, in the exodus story, appeared on the ground each morning during the years in the wilderness. The name puns on a Hebrew question meaning roughly "what is it?"

21For forty years you took care of them in the desert, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

21Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

NoteThe detail about clothes not wearing out and feet not swelling is drawn from Deuteronomy 8:4 and 29:5, where it is offered as evidence that the people were provided for during the forty years.

22You also gave them kingdoms and nations, and you handed out land to them all the way to its far corners. So they took over the land of Sihon, that is, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

22Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

NoteThe Hebrew of "handed out land to them all the way to its far corners" is obscure; it has also been read as allotting the peoples to Israel "corner by corner," or as assigning territory boundary by boundary. Sihon and Og were kings east of the Jordan River whose defeat is recorded in Numbers 21; Heshbon was Sihon's capital, and Bashan was the fertile upland region east of the Sea of Galilee.

23You made their children as many as the stars in the sky. You brought them into the land you had told their ancestors to go in and take.

23Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

Note"As many as the stars in the sky" repeats the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 15 and 22, and the repetition is the point: the prayer is tracking promises made and kept.

24So the children went in and took the land. You brought the people living there, the Canaanites, under their power, and you handed them over to them, along with their kings and the people of the land, so they could do as they pleased with them.

24So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

25They captured strong walled cities and rich land. They took houses full of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and many fruit trees. So they ate and were full, and they grew fat and enjoyed your great goodness.

25And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

Note"Grew fat" is not simply a description of good eating. In Hebrew it is a stock image for prosperity that slides into complacency, and it usually signals trouble ahead, as it does in the next verse.

26But they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They threw your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had warned them to turn back to you, and they insulted you terribly.

26Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

Note"Threw your law behind their backs" is an idiom for treating something with open contempt: putting it out of sight, deliberately, where it cannot be consulted.

27So you handed them over to their enemies, who made them suffer. In their time of trouble they cried out to you, and you heard them from heaven. Because your pity was so great, you gave them rescuers who saved them from their enemies.

27Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

NoteThe "rescuers" (older translations say "saviours") are the leaders of the book of Judges, figures raised up in emergencies to drive off an oppressing enemy. Verses 27 and 28 compress the whole repeating cycle of that book: oppression, outcry, rescue, relapse.

28But as soon as they had peace, they did evil again in front of you. So you left them in the power of their enemies, who ruled over them. Yet when they turned back and cried out to you, you heard them from heaven, and again and again you rescued them because of your pity.

28But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;

29You warned them, to bring them back to your law. But they acted proudly and would not obey your commands. They sinned against your rules, though anyone who keeps them will live by them. They turned their shoulders away, became stubborn, and refused to listen.

29And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

Note"Anyone who keeps them will live by them" is a direct quotation of Leviticus 18:5. "They turned their shoulders away" is another plowing image, like the stiffened neck: an animal pulling its shoulder out from under the yoke rather than accepting it.

30For many years you were patient with them. You warned them by your Spirit through your prophets, but they would not listen. So you handed them over to the peoples of other lands.

30Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

31Even so, because your pity is so great, you did not completely destroy them or abandon them, for you are a kind and merciful God.

31Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

32So now, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps his agreement and his faithful love: do not treat as small all the hardship that has come on us. It has come on our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, from the time of the kings of Assyria until today.

32Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

Note"Awesome" here (older translations say "terrible") means inspiring fear and awe, not merely impressive. The kings of Assyria are named as the starting point because the Assyrian empire destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and deported its population in 722 BC; from the speakers' viewpoint that began the long stretch of national disaster running down to their own day.

33You have been fair in everything that has happened to us. You have acted rightly, but we have acted wickedly.

33Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

34Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors did not keep your law. They did not pay attention to your commands or to the warnings you gave them.

34Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

35Even while they had their own kingdom, and enjoyed the great goodness you gave them in the wide, rich land you set before them, they did not serve you or turn away from their evil deeds.

35For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

36Look at us: today we are servants. In the very land you gave our ancestors so they could enjoy its fruit and its good things, we are servants.

36Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

Note"Servants" translates a word that covers both slaves and subjects of a king. The point is political: they are back in their own land, but it is a province of the Persian Empire and its produce is not fully theirs.

37Its rich harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please, and we are in great trouble.

37And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

Note"Its rich harvest goes to the kings" refers to the tribute and taxes owed to the Persian ruler. "Rule over our bodies and our livestock" refers to the power to conscript people for forced labor and to requisition animals.

38Because of all this, we are making a binding agreement and putting it in writing, and our leaders, Levites, and priests are sealing it."

38And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

NoteSealing meant pressing a personal seal, usually a carved stone worn on a ring or cord, into soft clay or wax on the document, which served as a signature and made the agreement legally binding. In Hebrew Bibles this verse is numbered 10:1, so other translations may show the following chapter's numbering shifted by one.