9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust. 9:2 Those truly of Israelite descent 1 separated from all the foreigners, 2 standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. 3 9:3 For one-fourth of the day they stood in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God, and for another fourth they were confessing their sins 4 and worshiping the LORD their God. 9:4 Then the Levites – Jeshua, Binnui, 5 Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani – stood on the steps and called out loudly 6 to the LORD their God. 9:5 The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God!”
“May you be blessed, O LORD our God, from age to age. 7 May your glorious name 8 be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise. 9:6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, 9 along with all their multitude of stars, 10 the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
9:7 “You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham. 9:8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a 11 covenant with him to give his descendants 12 the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, 13 for you are righteous.
9:9 “You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea. 14 9:10 You performed awesome signs 15 against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians 16 had acted presumptuously 17 against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day. 9:11 You split the sea before them, and they crossed through 18 the sea on dry ground! But you threw their pursuers 19 into the depths, like a stone into surging 20 waters. 9:12 You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel.
9:13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 9:14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through 21 Moses your servant. 9:15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn 22 to give them.
9:16 “But they – our ancestors 23 – behaved presumptuously; they rebelled 24 and did not obey your commandments. 9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. 25 But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. 26 You did not abandon them, 9:18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious 27 blasphemies.
9:19 “Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, 28 nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel. 9:20 You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst. 9:21 For forty years you sustained them. Even in the desert they never lacked anything. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
9:22 “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. 29 They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon 30 and the land of King Og of Bashan. 9:23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess. 9:24 Their descendants 31 entered and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who were the inhabitants of the land. You delivered them into their hand, together with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with as they pleased. 9:25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things – wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full 32 and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.
9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. 33 They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies. 9:27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from 34 their adversaries.
9:28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to 35 their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again. 9:29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances – those by which an individual, if he obeys them, 36 will live. They boldly turned from you; 37 they rebelled 38 and did not obey. 9:30 You prolonged your kindness 39 with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, 40 so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 41 9:31 However, due to your abundant mercy you did not do away with them altogether; you did not abandon them. For you are a merciful and compassionate God.
9:32 “So now, our God – the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity 42 – do not regard as inconsequential 43 all the hardship that has befallen us – our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people – from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day! 9:33 You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully. 44 It is we who have been in the wrong! 9:34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law. They have not paid attention to your commandments or your testimonies by which you have solemnly admonished them. 9:35 Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible 45 goodness that you had lavished 46 on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set 47 before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.
9:36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy 48 its good things – we are slaves! 9:37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, 49 and we are in great distress!
9:38 (10:1) 50 “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant 51 in written form; 52 our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names 53 on the sealed document.”
10:1 On the sealed documents were the following names: 54
Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, along with Zedekiah,
10:2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
10:3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,
10:4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
10:5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
10:6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
10:7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
10:8 Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.
10:9 The Levites were as follows:
Jeshua 55 son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel.
10:10 Their colleagues 56 were as follows:
Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
10:11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
10:12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
10:13 Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.
10:14 The leaders 57 of the people were as follows:
Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
10:15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
10:16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
10:17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
10:18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
10:19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
10:20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
10:21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
10:22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
10:23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
10:24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
10:25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
10:26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
10:27 Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.
10:28 “Now the rest of the people – the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples 58 because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand – 10:29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders 59 and enter into a curse and an oath 60 to adhere to 61 the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey 62 carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, 63 along with his ordinances and his statutes.
10:30 “We will not give our daughters in marriage to the neighboring peoples, and we will not take their daughters in marriage for our sons. 10:31 We will not buy 64 on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and we will cancel every loan. 65 10:32 We accept responsibility for fulfilling 66 the commands to give 67 one third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple 68 of our God, 10:33 for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God.
10:34 “We – the priests, the Levites, and the people – have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families 69 at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as is written in the law. 10:35 We also accept responsibility for 70 bringing the first fruits of our land and the first fruits of every fruit tree year by year to the temple of the LORD. 10:36 We also accept responsibility, as is written in the law, for bringing the firstborn of our sons and our cattle and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks to the temple of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the temple of our God. 10:37 We will also bring the first of our coarse meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the temple of our God, along with a tenth of the produce 71 of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. 72 10:38 A priest of Aaron’s line 73 will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes, and the Levites will bring up a tenth of the tithes to the temple of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 10:39 The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God.”