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Nehemiah 9:5-37

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5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, "Arise, bless the LORD your God forever * and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 "1You alone are the LORD. 2You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. 3You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.
7 "You are the LORD God, 4Who chose Abram And brought him out from 5Ur of the Chaldees, And 6gave him the name Abraham.
8 "You found 7his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite - To give it to his descendants. And You 8have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous.
9 "9You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And 10heard their cry by the Red * Sea.
10 "Then You performed 11signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that 12they acted arrogantly toward them, And 13made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 "14You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And 15their pursuers You hurled into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters.
12 "And with a pillar of cloud 16You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go.
13 "Then 17You came down on Mount Sinai, And 18spoke with them from heaven; You gave them 19just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.
14 "So You made known to them 20Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses.
15 "You 21provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You 22brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You 23told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore * to give them.
16 "But they, our fathers, 24acted arrogantly; They 25became * stubborn * and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 "They refused to listen, And 26did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became * stubborn * and 27appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God 28of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.
18 "Even when they 29made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, 'This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,' And committed great blasphemies,
19 30You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; 31The pillar of cloud did not leave * * them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.
20 "32You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 "Indeed, 33forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
22 "You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And allotted them to them as a boundary. 34They took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23 "You made their sons numerous as 35the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24 "36So their sons entered and possessed the land. And 37You 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, To do with them as they desired.
25 "38They captured fortified cities and a 39fertile land. They took possession of 40houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 41grew fat, And 42reveled in Your great goodness.
26 "43But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And 44cast Your law behind their backs And 45killed Your prophets who had 46admonished them So that they might return to You, And 47they committed great blasphemies.
27 "Therefore You 48delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You 49in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 50gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.
28 "But 51as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You; Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them. When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven, And 52many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,
29 And 53admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet 54they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By 55which if a man observes them he shall live. And they 56turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 "57However, You bore with them for many years, And 58admonished them by 59Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 "Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You 60did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are 61a gracious and compassionate God.
32 "Now therefore, our God, 62the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness, Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, 63From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 "However, 64You are just in all that has come upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
34 "For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.
35 "But 65they, in their own kingdom, 66With Your great goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You set before them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.
36 "Behold, 67we are slaves today, And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves in it.
37 "68Its abundant produce is for the kings Whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress.
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Nehemiah 9:5-37 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 9

In this chapter we have an account of a fast kept by the Jews, which was observed, as by outward acts of humiliation, so by confession of sin, reading the law, and worshipping the Lord, Ne 9:1-3 and of a long prayer that the Levites made, in which they celebrate the divine perfections, take notice of various instances of the goodness of God to the people of Israel, acknowledge their manifold transgressions, observe the Lord's correction of them for them, in which they own he was righteous, Ne 9:4-38.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 68

Footnotes 15

  • [a]. Lit "seed"
  • [b]. Lit "Sea of Reeds"
  • [c]. Lit "strong, mighty"
  • [d]. Lit "lifted up Your hand"
  • [e]. Lit "stiffened their neck;" so also v 17
  • [f]. So Gr and some Heb mss; Heb reads "in their rebellion"
  • [g]. Lit "acts of contempt"
  • [h]. Lit "side, corner"
  • [i]. So the Gr and the Latin; Heb reads "and the land of the king of Heshbon"
  • [j]. Lit "according to their desire"
  • [k]. Lit "fat"
  • [l]. Lit "acts of contempt"
  • [m]. Lit "gave"
  • [n]. Lit "testimonies"
  • [o]. Or "witnessed"
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