Nehemiah 9
Israelites remember God’s faithfulness
On the 24th day of the month, the Israelites gathered as they fasted, wore humble clothes, and put dirt on their heads. The Israelites separated themselves from any foreigners and confessed their shortcomings and the offenses of their ancestors. For one quarter of the day, they stood up and read from the Existing One’s Law. For another quarter, they made confessions and worshiped the Existing One their God. Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the Levites’ stairs and loudly cried out to the Existing One their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, “Stand up and favor the Existing One your God from the beginning to the end of time. May everyone favor your reputation because it’s exalted higher than we could ever express.
“You alone are the Existing One. You made heaven, and you made heaven’s heaven with all their inhabitants along with the earth with everything on it as well as the sea with everything in it. And you sustain all of them all while heaven’s inhabitants worship you. You are the Existing One, the God who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur (the Chaldean city), and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart to be faithful, and you committed to give his offspring the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. You kept your promise because you are righteous.
“And you saw how afflicted our forefathers were in Egypt. You heard their cries at the Red Sea and sent bewildering signals against Pharaoh, his servants, and his people, because you saw how arrogantly they were towards our forefathers. You made a name for yourself that you still have to this day. You split the sea in front of them so that they walked right through the sea on dry land, and then you threw their enemies into the depths like a stone thrown into the ocean. You used a cloud pillar to lead them during the day and a fire pillar to show them where to go at night. You came down on Mount Sinai and talked with them from heaven and gave them perfect rules, correct laws, good orders. You told them about your sacred Sabbath and gave them their orders through your servant Moses. You gave them bread from heaven to satisfy their hunger, you brought water out of a rock to satisfy their thirst, and you told them to take possession of the land you swore to give them.
“But our forefathers acted pridefully and didn’t follow your orders. They refused to obey and didn’t remember the fascinations you performed in front of them. Instead, they stubbornly appointed a leader to enslave them like they were in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive: kind and generous, not quick tempered, but overflowing with steady love, and you didn’t abandon them. Even when they made a golden calf for themselves and said, ‘This is our God who rescued us from Egypt,’ and had disrespected you greatly, you still didn’t abandon them in the wilderness because of how forgiving you are. The cloud pillar still stayed with them and led them during the day, and so did the fire pillar at night. You gave them your good Spirit to instruct them and kept providing food and water for them. You sustained them for forty years in the dessert, and they had everything they needed. Their clothes didn’t even wear out, and their feet didn’t even get swollen.
“And you handed over people and entire kingdoms to them as you established them in every corner. They took possession of Heshbon (the land where King Sihon ruled) and Bashan (the land where King Og ruled). You multiplied their children to be like the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land you had told their fathers to capture. So the descendants went in and seized the land, and you subdued the Canaanites who lived there and handed them over along with their kings and their people so that they could do whatever they wanted with them. They captured fortified cities and a rich land, taking possession of houses that were filled with nice things like cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards, and fruit trees. So they ate and were filled, becoming fat and delighting themselves in all your goodness.
“But they were still disobedient and rebelled against you and tossed your law away over their shoulder. They killed your prophets who warned them to turn back to you, and they seriously offended you. So then you handed them over to their enemies who made them suffer. And while they were suffering, they cried out to you. You heard them from heaven, and in your great kindness, you gave them saviors who rescued them from their enemies. But after they recovered, they returned to their evils, so you handed them over to their enemies so that they reigned over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you still heard them from heaven, and in your kindness you rescued them many times. You warned them to turn back to your law, but they continued to act pridefully and broke your rules instead of following your orders. If anyone follows your orders, he will find life, yet they stubbornly turned their backs and refused to obey them. You endured their behavior for many years, and your Spirit warned them over and over again through your prophets, yet they wouldn’t even listen. So you handed them over to the secular people. Nevertheless, in your kindness, you never ended them or abandoned them, because you are a generous and merciful God.
“Now our God, the great, strong, awesome God who keeps his commitments and steady love, don’t gloss over all the hardship that has come to us, our kings, princes, priests, prophets, ancestors, and all your people from the time Assyria’s kings until now. You’ve been good through everything that happened to us, because you remained loyal even though we were in the wrong. Our kings, princes, priests, and ancestors haven’t kept your laws, orders, or warnings you gave them. Even when you gave them them good things like their own kingdom and rich land, they still didn’t serve you or turn from their corrupt behavior. Now here we are today: slaves in the land you gave to our ancestors for them to enjoy. Its rich fruit and good goes to the kings you’ve placed over us because of our shortcomings. They rule over us and our livestock however they want, and we are distressed.
Because of all this, we make this written commitment on a sealed document with the names of our princes, Levites, and priests.