Nehemiah

4 Nehemiah bewaileth the calamity of Jerusalem. 5 He confesseth the sins of the people, and praiseth God for them.

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. In the month [a]Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in the palace of Shushan,

Came Hanani, one of my [b]brethren, he and the men of Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews that were delivered, which were of the residue of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

And they said unto me, The residue that are left of the captivity there in the [c]province, are in great affliction and in reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire.

And when I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,

And said, (A)O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him, and observe his commandments,

I pray thee let thine ears be attent, and thine eyes open, to hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee daily, day and night for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my father’s house have sinned:

We have [d]grievously sinned against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

I beseech thee, remember the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, Ye will transgress, and (B)I will scatter you abroad among the people.

But if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, (C)though your scattering were to the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather you from thence, and will bring you unto the place that I have chosen to place my Name there.

10 Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy mighty hand.

11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let thine ear now hearken to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to [e]fear thy Name, and I pray thee, cause thy servant to prosper this day, and give him favor in the presence of [f]this man: for I was the king’s butler.

Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 1:1 Which containeth part of November and part of December, and was their ninth month.
  2. Nehemiah 1:2 A Jew as I was.
  3. Nehemiah 1:3 Meaning, in Judea.
  4. Nehemiah 1:7 Hebrew, corrupted.
  5. Nehemiah 1:11 That is, to worship thee.
  6. Nehemiah 1:11 To wit, the king Artaxerxes.

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