(KJV) Nehemiah 112

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⥃Nehemiah’s Prayer [ Deuteronomy 30:1–10 ]

[1] The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, [2] That Hanani3, one of my brethren, came, he and [certain] men of Judah; and I asked4 them concerning the Jews that had escaped5, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. [3] And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province6 [are] in great7 affliction and reproach8: the wall9 of Jerusalem also [is] broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

[4] [¶]And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down10 and wept, and mourned [certain] days, and fasted, and prayed before the God11 of heaven, [5] And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great12 and terrible God, that keepeth13 covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: [6] Let thine ear14 now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night15, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess16 the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I17 and my father’s house have sinned. [7] We have dealt18 very corruptly19 against thee, and have not kept the commandments20, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou21 commandedst thy servant Moses. [8] Remember22, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, [If] ye transgress23, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: [9] But [if] ye turn24 unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, [yet] will I25 gather them from thence, and will bring26 them unto the place27 that I have chosen to set my name there. [10] Now these28 [are] thy servants and thy people, whom29 thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong30 hand. [11] O Lord, I beseech thee, let now31 thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire32 to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant33 him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was34 the king’s cupbearer.

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  1. Of Nehemiah, the author and principal actor in the events recorded in this book, the Jews speak as one of the greatest men of their nation. His concern for his country entitles him to the character of the first patriot that ever lived. Descended, according to some, of the family of Aaron, or according to others, of the tribe of Judah and allied to the royal family of David, in the course of Divine Providence, he was a captive in Babylon, but there his excellences were so apparent, that he was chosen by the Persian king to fill an office the most respectable and the most confidential in the whole court. Here he lived in ease and affluence. He lacked no good thing; and here he might have continued to live, in the same affluence, and in the same confidence; but he could enjoy neither, so long as he knew his people distressed, the sepulchres of his fathers trodden under foot, the altars of his God overturned, and his worship either totally neglected or corrupted. He sought the peace of Jerusalem; prayed for it; and was willing to sacrifice wealth, ease, safety, and even life itself, if he might be the instrument of restoring the desolations of Israel. And God, who saw the desire of his heart, and knew the excellences with which he had endowed him, granted his request, and gave him the high honour of restoring the desolated city of his ancestors, and the pure worship of their God. The opposition of Sanballat and the Samaritans, and the firmness and zeal with which he repelled their insults and ineffectual efforts cannot be read without the liveliest emotions; and will afford to the latest times, a noble and animating example of distinguished patriotism, united with the sincerest devotion to the interests of religion. The virtue and piety of this great and good man, appear with equal lustre in the numerous and important reformations he effected. He relieved the people from their hardships and oppressions, by abolishing the harsh and usurious practices of the nobles and rulers; gave up his own revenue, as governor of the province, for the benefit of the people; and, as a further means of conciliating their affections, exhibited an example of the most princely hospitality. As the best security for good morals, and the better observance of the laws of God, he re-established the offices of public worship, and prevented the profanation of the sabbath, which had arrived at a shameful excess; he furnished the returned captives with authentic registers, and enabled them, in the best manner possible, after so long and calamitous an interval, to trace the genealogies, and claim the inheritance of their respective families; and further, he accomplished the separation of the Jewish people from the mixed multitude, with which they had been incorporated, and annulled the numerous marriages which they had made with heathens and idolaters of every description. For disinterestedness, philanthropy, patriotism, prudence, courage, zeal, humanity, and every virtue that constitutes a great mind, and proves a soul in deep communion with God, Nehemiah will ever stand conspicuous among the greatest men of the Jewish nation; and an exemplar worthy of being copied by the first patriots in every nation under heaven. ↩

  2. Neh 1:1, Nehemiah, understanding by Hanani the misery of Jerusalem, mourns, fasts, and prays; Neh 1:5, His prayer. ↩

  3. Neh 7:2 ↩

  4. Ps 122:6-9, Ps 137:5-6 ↩

  5. Ezra 9:8-9, Ezra 9:14; Jer 44:14; Ezek 6:9, Ezek 7:16, Ezek 24:26-27 ↩

  6. Neh 7:6, Neh 11:3; Ezra 2:1, Ezra 5:8; Esth 1:1 ↩

  7. Neh 9:36-37; Ps 44:11-14, Ps 137:1-3; Isa 32:9-14; Lam 1:7, Lam 3:61, Lam 5:1 ↩

  8. 1Kgs 9:7; Ps 79:4; Isa 43:28; Jer 24:9, Jer 29:18, Jer 42:18, Jer 44:8-12 ↩

  9. Neh 2:17; 2Kgs 25:10; Isa 5:5, Isa 64:10-11; Jer 5:10, Jer 39:8, Jer 52:14 ↩

  10. 1Sam 4:17-22; Ezra 10:1; Ps 69:9-10, Ps 102:13-14, Ps 137:1; Dan 9:3; Zeph 3:18; Rom 12:15 ↩

  11. Neh 2:4; Ezra 5:11-12; Dan 2:18; Jonah 1:9 ↩

  12. Neh 4:14; Deut 7:21; 1Chr 17:21; Ps 47:2; Dan 9:4-19 ↩

  13. Exod 20:6; Deut 7:9; 1Kgs 8:23; Heb 6:13-18 ↩

  14. 1Kgs 8:28-29; 2Chr 6:40; Ps 34:15, Ps 130:2; Dan 9:17-18 ↩

  15. 1Sam 15:11; Ps 55:17, Ps 88:1; Luke 2:37, Luke 18:7; 1Tim 5:5; 2Tim 1:3 ↩

  16. Ezra 9:6-7, Ezra 10:11; Ps 32:5; Isa 64:6-7; Lam 3:39-42; Dan 9:4, Dan 9:20; 1John 1:9 ↩

  17. 2Chr 28:10, 2Chr 29:6; Ps 106:6; Isa 6:5; Lam 5:7; Eph 2:3 ↩

  18. Neh 9:29-35; Ps 106:6; Dan 9:5-6 ↩

  19. 2Chr 27:2; Hos 9:9; Zeph 3:7; Rev 19:2 ↩

  20. Lev 27:34; Deut 4:1, Deut 5:1, Deut 6:1, Deut 28:15; 1Kgs 2:3; Ps 19:8-9, Ps 119:5-8 ↩

  21. Deut 4:5; 2Chr 25:4; Ezra 7:6; Dan 9:11, Dan 9:13; Mal 4:4 ↩

  22. Ps 119:49; Luke 1:72 ↩

  23. Lev 26:33-46; Deut 4:25-27, Deut 28:64, Deut 32:26-28; 1Kgs 9:6-7 ↩

  24. Lev 26:39-42; Deut 4:29-31, Deut 30:2-5; Jer 29:11-14 ↩

  25. 1Chr 16:35; Ps 106:47, Ps 147:2; Isa 11:12, Isa 56:8; Jer 12:15, Jer 31:10; Jer 32:37, Jer 50:19-20; Matt 24:31 ↩

  26. Jer 3:14; Ezek 36:24 ↩

  27. Deut 12:5, Deut 12:21; 1Kgs 9:3; Ezra 6:12 ↩

  28. Exod 32:11; Deut 9:29; Isa 63:16-19, Isa 64:9; Dan 9:15-27 ↩

  29. Exod 15:13; Deut 15:15; Ps 74:2 ↩

  30. Exod 6:1, Exod 13:9; Ps 136:12; Dan 9:15 ↩

  31. Neh 1:6; Ps 86:6, Ps 130:2 ↩

  32. Prov 1:29; Isa 26:8-9; Heb 13:18 ↩

  33. Neh 2:8; Gen 32:11, Gen 32:28, Gen 43:14; Ezra 1:1, Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:27-28; Prov 21:1 ↩

  34. The office of cup-bearer was one of great trust, honour, and emolument, in the Persian court. To be in such a place of trust he must have been in the king's confidence; for no eastern potentate would have a cup-bearer to whom he could not trust his life, poison being often administered in that way. It was an office much desired, because it gave access to the king in those seasons of hilarity when men are most disposed to grant favours. Neh 2:1; Gen 40:2, Gen 40:9-13, Gen 40:21, Gen 40:23, Gen 41:9 ↩