(KJV) Nehemiah 9¹

⥃The People Confess Their Sins

[1] Now² in the twenty³ and fourth day of this month⁴ the children⁵ of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth⁶ upon them. [2] And the seed⁷ of Israel separated themselves from all strangers⁸, and stood and confessed⁹ their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. [3] And they stood¹⁰ up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God [one] fourth¹¹ part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the Lord their God.

[4] Then stood up upon the stairs¹², of the Levites, Jeshua¹³, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, and cried¹⁴ with a loud voice unto the Lord their God. [5] Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up¹⁵ [and] bless¹⁶ the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious¹⁷ name, which is exalted¹⁸ above all blessing and praise. [6] Thou, [even] thou¹⁹, [art] Lord alone; thou hast²⁰ made heaven, the heaven²¹ of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all [things] that [are] therein, the seas, and all that [is] therein, and thou preservest²² them all; and the host²³ of heaven worshippeth thee. [7] Thou [art] the Lord the God, who didst choose²⁴ Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur²⁵ of the Chaldees, and gavest²⁶ him the name of Abraham; [8] And foundest²⁷ his heart faithful before thee, and madest²⁸ a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites²⁹, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give [it], [I say], to his seed, and hast performed³⁰ thy words; for thou [art] righteous³¹: [9] And didst see³² the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest³³ their cry by the Red sea; [10] And shewedst³⁴ signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they³⁵ dealt proudly against them. So didst³⁶ thou get thee a name, as [it is] this day. [11] And thou didst divide³⁷ the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors³⁸ thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone³⁹ into the mighty waters. [12] Moreover thou leddest⁴⁰ them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way⁴¹ wherein they should go. [13] Thou camest⁴² down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest⁴³ with them from heaven, and gavest⁴⁴ them right judgments, and true laws⁴⁵, good statutes and commandments: [14] And madest⁴⁶ known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst⁴⁷ them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses⁴⁸ thy servant: [15] And gavest⁴⁹ them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest⁵⁰ forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go⁵¹ in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn⁵² to give them. [16] But they and our fathers dealt⁵³ proudly, and hardened⁵⁴ their necks, and hearkened⁵⁵ not to thy commandments, [17] And refused⁵⁶ to obey, neither were mindful⁵⁷ of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion⁵⁸ appointed⁵⁹ a captain to return to their bondage: but thou [art] a God⁶⁰ ready to pardon⁶¹, gracious⁶² and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest⁶³ them not. [18] Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This [is] thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;⁶⁴ [19] Yet thou in thy⁶⁵ manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar⁶⁶ of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. [20] Thou gavest⁶⁷ also thy good⁶⁸ spirit to instruct them, and withheldest⁶⁹ not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest⁷⁰ them water for their thirst. [21] Yea, forty⁷¹ years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their⁷² clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. [22] Moreover thou⁷³ gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide⁷⁴ them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon⁷⁵, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. [23] Their children also multipliedst⁷⁶ thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest⁷⁷ them into the land, concerning which thou⁷⁸ hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess [it]. [24] So the⁷⁹ children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst⁸⁰ before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would⁸¹. [25] And they took strong⁸² cities, and a fat land⁸³, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells⁸⁴ digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees⁸⁵ in abundance: so they did eat⁸⁶, and were filled, and became fat⁸⁷, and delighted⁸⁸ themselves in thy great goodness. [26] Nevertheless they were⁸⁹ disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law⁹⁰ behind their backs, and slew⁹¹ thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought⁹² great provocations. [27] Therefore thou deliveredst⁹³ them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time⁹⁴ of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest [them] from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours⁹⁵, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. [28] But after they had rest, they did evil again⁹⁶ before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest⁹⁷ [them] from heaven; and many times⁹⁸ didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies; [29] And testifiedst⁹⁹ against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they¹⁰⁰ dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which¹⁰¹ if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder¹⁰², and hardened¹⁰³ their neck, and would not hear. [30] Yet many years¹⁰⁴ didst thou forbear them¹⁰⁵, and testifiedst¹⁰⁶ against them by thy spirit¹⁰⁷ in thy prophets¹⁰⁸: yet would they not give ear: therefore¹⁰⁹ gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. [31] Nevertheless for thy great¹¹⁰ mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou [art] a gracious¹¹¹ and merciful God. [32] Now therefore, our God¹¹², the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest¹¹³ covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble¹¹⁴ seem little before thee¹¹⁵, that hath come upon us¹¹⁶, on our kings¹¹⁷, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time¹¹⁸ of the kings of Assyria unto this day. [33] Howbeit¹¹⁹ thou [art] just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we¹²⁰ have done wickedly: [34] Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened¹²¹ unto thy commandments and thy testimonies¹²², wherewith thou didst¹²³ testify against them. [35] For they¹²⁴ have not served thee in their kingdom¹²⁵, and in thy great¹²⁶ goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land¹²⁷ which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. [36] Behold, we [are] servants this day, and [for] the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we [are] servants in it:¹²⁸ [37] And it yieldeth¹²⁹ much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion¹³⁰ over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we [are] in great distress. [38] And because of all this we make¹³¹ a sure [covenant], and write [it]; and our princes, Levites, [and] priests, seal [unto it¹³²].