Nehemiah
| Author: Nehemiah, who was cupbearer to Artaxerxes the king of Persia and Babylon (1:11).Time of Writing: After 433 B.C.Place of Writing: Jerusalem.Time Period Covered: This book covers a period of at least twelve years, from 445 B.C. to 433 B.C., from the twentieth year (1:1) to some time after the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king of Persia and Babylon (13:6-7). |
The strength of the burden bearers fails,And the debris is great;
And we are not ableTo build the wall.
And may Your glorious name be blessed,Which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
You alone;You have
The heaven of heavens with all its host,The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them;And You give life to all of them;
And the host of heaven worships You.Neh 9:7 - You are Jehovah God,
Who choseAnd brought him forth from Ur of the ChaldeesaAbram
And gave him the nameNeh 9:8 - And You found his heart faithful before YoubAbraham.
And made aTo give him the land of the Canaanites,acovenant with him,
The Hittites, the Amorites,And the Perizzites and the Jebusites and the Girgashites,
To give it to his seed.And You have fulfilled Your promises,
For You are righteous.Neh 9:9 - And You saw the
And heard theirNeh 9:10 - And You performedbcry by the Red Sea,
And on all his servants, and on all the people of his land;For You knew that they acted arrogantly toward them;
And You made Yourself a name, as it is to this day.Neh 9:11 - And You
So that they might pass through the midst of the sea on the dry land;But their pursuers You threw into the
Like a stone into mighty waters.Neh 9:12 - Then in a
And in a pillar of fire by night,To light the way for them,
On which they should go.Neh 9:13 - And You came down upon Mount
And spoke with them from heaven.And You gave them just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.Neh 9:14 - And You made known to them
Your holyAnd prescribed commandments and statutes and a law for themaSabbath
Through Moses Your servant.Neh 9:15 - And You gave them
For their hunger,And You made water come forth from a
For their thirst.And You told them to enter
In order to possess the land,Which You swore
To give them.Neh 9:16 - But they and our fathers acted arrogantly
And stiffened their neck and would not listen to Your commandments.Neh 9:17 - And they refused to listen
And would not remember Your wondrous acts,Which You had done among them.
And they stiffened their neck and appointed aTo return to their slavery in Egypt.aleader
But You are a God of forgiveness,Gracious and compassionate,
Long-suffering and abounding in lovingkindness;So You did not forsake them.
A moltenAnd said, This is your God,acalf,
Who brought you up out of Egypt,And showed great contempt;
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;The pillar of cloud did not depart from over them by day,
To guide them on their way;Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To light the way for them, on which they should go.Neh 9:20 - And You gave Your good
To instruct them,And did not withhold Your
And gave them water for their thirst.Neh 9:21 - Indeed for
They did not lack;
And their feet did not swell.Neh 9:22 - And You gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And divided these to them as boundaries.So they took possession of the land of
And the land ofNeh 9:23 - And their children You multipliedbOg the king of Bashan.
Like theAnd You brought them into the landastars of heaven,
That You told their fathersTo enter and
And possessed the land;And You subdued before them
The inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites;And You gave them into their hand,
With their kings and the peoples of the land,That they might do with them as they pleased.
And a fertile land,And took possession of their houses,
Full of every good thing,Hewn cisterns, vineyards, and olive groves,
And fruit trees in abundance;And they ate and were satisfied and grew fat,
And they delighted in Your great goodness.Neh 9:26 - But they were disobedient and rebelled against You
And cast Your law behind their back.And they
Who had testified against themIn order to turn them back to You;
And they showed great contempt.Neh 9:27 - Therefore You
And they oppressed them;But when they
You heard from heaven,And according to Your great compassions You gave them
Who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.Neh 9:28 - Then after they had rest,
They again did evil before You;And You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies,
And they had dominion over them.But when they cried out to You again,
You heard from heaven
And delivered themAccording to Your compassions.amany times
But they acted arrogantly and would not listen to Your commandments;And they sinned against Your ordinances
(By which, if a manAnd they turned a stubborn shoulderadoes them, he will live),
And stiffened their neck and would not listen.Neh 9:30 - Yet You bore with them
For many yearsAnd testified to them by Your
Through Your prophets,But they would not give heed;
So You delivered themInto the hand of the peoples of the lands.
You did not make an end of them;And You did not forsake them,
For You are a gracious and compassionate God.Neh 9:32 - And now, our God,
The great, the mighty, and the awesome God,Who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,
Do not let all the hardship seem small in Your sightWhich has come upon us, on our kings, on our rulers,
And on our priests and on our prophetsAnd on our fathers and on all Your people,
Since the days of the kings ofUntil this day.aAssyria
In all that has come upon us,For You have acted faithfully
While we have acted wickedly;Neh 9:34 - And our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers
Have not performed Your lawNor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
By which You testified against them.Neh 9:35 - But they, in their kingdom and in Your great goodness,
Which You gave them,And in the broad and
That You put before them,Did not serve You, nor did they turn
From their evil works.Neh 9:36 - Here we are, slaves today;
And as for the land that You gave to our fathersTo eat of its fruit and its goodness,
Here we are, slaves upon it.Neh 9:37 - And its abundant
Whom You have put over us because of our sins;And they rule over our bodies and over our cattle at their pleasure,
And we are in great distress.Neh 9:38 - And because of all this we are making a firm covenant and setting it in writing, and upon the sealed document are the names of our rulers, our Levites, and our priests.