Nehemiah

Nehemiah leads the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls and reforms the community.

Chapter 9

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

*On the 24th day of this month, the Israelites gathered while fasting and wearing sackclothes and dirt on their bodies.

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

*The people of Israel's descendants separated from everyone else, then they stood up and admitted their wrongdoings and those of their ancestors.

3 And 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.

*They stood and read a part of God's law book for half a day, and for another half, they admitted their wrongdoings and worshiped God.

4 Then 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.

*Then, on the stairs, the Levites stood up - Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani. They loudly called out to their God, the Lord.

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

*Then the Levites, including Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, "Stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever. May your amazing name be praised, as it is above all other blessings and praise."

6 Thou, 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.

*You are the only Lord; you created the heavens, the highest heavens, and everything in them, the earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them. You keep them all going, and the beings in the stars' world worship you.

7 Thou 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;

*You are the Lord, the God, who picked Abram and took him away from Ur of the Chaldeans. You gave him the name Abraham.

8 And 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:

*You showed that his heart was loyal to you. You made a promise to give him the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. This land would go to his children, and you have kept your word because you are fair.

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

*You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cries at the Red Sea.

10 And 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.

*And you showed signs and miracles to Pharaoh and his officials, and all the people in his country, because you knew they were proud and mean to them. This is how you got your famous name today.

11 And 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.

*You separated the sea for them, allowing them to walk across on dry ground. Meanwhile, you tossed their enemies into the deep waters, like a stone into powerful waves.

12 Moreover 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.

*Moreover, you guided them during the day with a cloudy pillar and at night with a pillar of fire, to provide them light and show them the way to go.

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

*You came down on Mount Sinai too, spoke to them from heaven, and gave them fair judgments, true laws, good rules, and commands.

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

*You made your special day of rest, the Sabbath, known to them. You also gave them rules, commands, and laws through Moses, your helper.

15 And 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.

*You gave them bread from the sky when they were hungry and brought them water from a rock when they were thirsty. You also promised they could have the land you said you'd give them.

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

*But they and our ancestors were arrogant, and made their necks stiff, and did not listen to your commands.

17 And 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.

*They refused to listen and didn't remember your amazing acts. They made their minds stubborn and chose a leader to go back to being controlled. But you are a forgiving God, kind and compassionate, slow to get angry, and very merciful, and you didn't leave them alone.

18 Yea, 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;

*Yes, when they created a metal idol and said, "This is your God who took you out of Egypt and did great things to anger you."

19 Yet 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.

*Even so, in your many acts of kindness, you did not leave them alone in the desert. The cloud pillar stayed with them during the day to guide them, and the fire pillar was there at night to show them light and the path they should follow.

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

*You gave them your good guidance and didn't withhold your special food from their mouths. You also provided them with water when they were thirsty.

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

*Yes, for forty years you provided for them in the desert, making sure they had everything they needed. Their clothes didn't get old, and their feet didn't swell up.

22 Moreover 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.

*Moreover, you gave them countries and territories, dividing them among different areas. They took over the land of Sihon, the land of the Heshbon king, and the land of Og, the king of Bashan.

23 Their 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.

*Their children increased like stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land you promised their ancestors they could have.

24 So 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.

*So the kids entered and took control of the land, and you defeated the land's other people - the Canaanites - for the kids, giving them and their leaders into the kids' hands to do with them as they wished.

25 And 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.

*And they captured powerful cities, a rich land, and houses filled with many possessions, along with wells, vineyards, olive groves, and lots of fruit trees. They ate and were satisfied, grew healthy, and enjoyed your wonderful generosity.

26 Nevertheless 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.

*However, they refused to listen and rebelled against you. They ignored your laws, killed your prophets who tried to bring them back to you, and committed serious offenses.

27 Therefore 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.

*So you let them be captured by their enemies, who troubled them. When they called out to you in their difficult times, you heard them from heaven. Because of your many acts of kindness, you gave them rescuers who saved them from their enemies.

28 But 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;

*But after taking a break, they went back to doing bad things. So you let their enemies control them. But when they came back and asked for help, you listened from heaven and often saved them because of your kindness.

29 And 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.

*And you testified against them so that you could bring them back to your law. But they were proud and didn't listen to your commands. They sinned against your judgments (if someone follows them, they can live by them). They refused to listen.

30 Yet 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.

*For a long time, you patiently waited for them but they ignored your messages given through prophets. So, you handed them over to other people living in different lands.

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

*Yet because of your great kindness, you didn't completely destroy them or leave them; since you are a kind and compassionate God.

32 Now 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.

*Now then, God, the powerful and fearsome God who keeps promises and kindness, please don't think the many difficulties we've faced - affecting our kings, leaders, priests, prophets, ancestors, and all your people from the time of the Assyrian kings until now - are insignificant.

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

*However, you are fair in everything that has happened to us, because you have acted correctly, but we have done wrong.

34 Neither 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.

*Our leaders, including kings, princes, priests, and fathers, have not followed your laws or listened to your commands and messages that you gave them.

35 For 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.

*They didn't serve you in their kingdom or show gratitude for your kindness and the rich land you gave them. Instead, they continued with their bad actions.

36 Behold, 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:

*Look, we are your servants today, and for the land you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruits and benefits, we are still your servants in that land.

37 And 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.

*This verse says that the kings given to us by God give us lots of trouble because of our mistakes. They control our bodies and our animals whenever they want, causing us a lot of problems.

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

*So, due to everything mentioned, we create a definite agreement, write it down, and our leaders, Levites, and priests put their seal on it.

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