Nehemiah 9

The People Confess Their Sin

1 Now on the twenty-fourth * day of ¹this month the sons of Israel assembled ²with fasting, in sackcloth and with ³dirt upon them.

2 The ⁴descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners *, and stood and ⁵confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 While ⁶they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.

4 ⁷Now on the Levites' platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

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 "⁸You alone are the LORD. ⁹You 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. ¹⁰You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.

7 "You are the LORD God, ¹¹Who chose Abram And brought him out from ¹²Ur of the Chaldees, And ¹³gave him the name Abraham.

8 "You found ¹⁴his 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 ¹⁵have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous.

9 "¹⁶You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And ¹⁷heard their cry by the Red * Sea.

10 "Then You performed ¹⁸signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that ¹⁹they acted arrogantly toward them, And ²⁰made a name for Yourself as it is this day.

11 "²¹You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And ²²their pursuers You hurled into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters.

12 "And with a pillar of cloud ²³You 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 ²⁴You came down on Mount Sinai, And ²⁵spoke with them from heaven; You gave them ²⁶just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.

14 "So You made known to them ²⁷Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses.

15 "You ²⁸provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You ²⁹brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You ³⁰told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore * to give them.

16 "But they, our fathers, ³¹acted arrogantly; They ³²became * stubborn * and would not listen to Your commandments.

17 "They refused to listen, And ³³did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became * stubborn * and ³⁴appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God ³⁵of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.

18 "Even when they ³⁶made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, 'This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,' And committed great blasphemies,

19 ³⁷You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; ³⁸The 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 "³⁹You 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, ⁴⁰forty 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. ⁴¹They 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 ⁴²the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

24 "⁴³So their sons entered and possessed the land. And ⁴⁴You 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 "⁴⁵They captured fortified cities and a ⁴⁶fertile land. They took possession of ⁴⁷houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and ⁴⁸grew fat, And ⁴⁹reveled in Your great goodness.

26 "⁵⁰But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And ⁵¹cast Your law behind their backs And ⁵²killed Your prophets who had ⁵³admonished them So that they might return to You, And ⁵⁴they committed great blasphemies.

27 "Therefore You ⁵⁵delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You ⁵⁶in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You ⁵⁷gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.

28 "But ⁵⁸as 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 ⁵⁹many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,

29 And ⁶⁰admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet ⁶¹they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By ⁶²which if a man observes them he shall live. And they ⁶³turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

30 "⁶⁴However, You bore with them for many years, And ⁶⁵admonished them by ⁶⁶Your 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 ⁶⁷did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are ⁶⁸a gracious and compassionate God.

32 "Now therefore, our God, ⁶⁹the 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, ⁷⁰From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

33 "However, ⁷¹You 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 ⁷²they, in their own kingdom, ⁷³With 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, ⁷⁴we 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 "⁷⁵Its 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.

A Covenant Results

38 "Now because of all this ⁷⁶We are making an agreement in writing; And on the ⁷⁷sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests."

Nehemiah 9 Commentary

Chapter 9

A solemn fast. (1-3) Prayer and confession of sin. (4-38)

Verses 1-3 The word will direct and quicken prayer, for by it the Spirit helps our infirmities in prayer. The careful study of God's word will more and more discover to us our own sinfulness, and the plenteousness of his salvation; thus it calls us to mourn for sin, and to rejoice in him. Every discovery of the truth of God, should render us more unwearied in attendance on his sacred word, and on his worship.

Verses 4-38 The summary of their prayers we have here upon record. Much more, no doubt, was said. Whatever ability we have to do any thing in the way of duty, we are to serve and glorify God according to the utmost of it. When confessing our sins, it is good to notice the mercies of God, that we may be the more humbled and ashamed. The dealings of the Lord showed his goodness and long-suffering, and the hardness of their hearts. The testimony of the prophets was the testimony of the Spirit in the prophets, and it was the Spirit of Christ in them. They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and what they said is to be received accordingly. The result was, wonder at the Lord's mercies, and the feeling that sin had brought them to their present state, from which nothing but unmerited love could rescue them. And is not their conduct a specimen of human nature? Let us study the history of our land, and our own history. Let us recollect our advantages from childhood, and ask what were our first returns? Let us frequently do so, that we may be kept humble, thankful, and watchful. Let all remember that pride and obstinacy are sins which ruin the soul. But it is often as hard to persuade the broken-hearted to hope, as formerly it was to bring them to fear. Is this thy case? Behold this sweet promise, A God ready to pardon! Instead of keeping away from God under a sense of unworthiness, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. He is a God ready to pardon.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 8:2
• 2. Ezra 8:23
• 3. 1 Samuel 4:12
• 4. Ezra 10:11; Nehemiah 13:3
• 5. Proverbs 28:13; Jeremiah 3:13
• 6. Nehemiah 8:4
• 7. Nehemiah 8:7
• 8. Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Kings 19:15
• 9. Genesis 1:1
• 10. Colossians 1:16
• 11. Genesis 12:1
• 12. Genesis 11:31
• 13. Genesis 17:5
• 14. Gen 15:6, 18-21
• 15. Joshua 21:43-45
• 16. Exodus 3:7
• 17. Ex 14:10-14, 31
• 18. Ex 7:8-12:32
• 19. Exodus 5:2
• 20. Exodus 9:16
• 21. Exodus 14:21
• 22. Ex 15:1, 5, 10
• 23. Exodus 13:21, 22
• 24. Ex 19:11, 18-20
• 25. Exodus 20:1
• 26. Psalms 19:7-9
• 27. Exodus 16:23; Exodus 20:8
• 28. Ex 16:4, 14, 15
• 29. Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:7-13
• 30. Deuteronomy 1:8, 21
• 31. Nehemiah 9:10
• 32. Deuteronomy 1:26-33; Deuteronomy 31:27; Nehemiah 9:29
• 33. Ps 78:11, 42-55
• 34. Numbers 14:4
• 35. Exodus 34:6, 7; Numbers 14:18
• 36. Ex 32:4-8, 31
• 37. Deuteronomy 8:2-4; Nehemiah 9:27, 31
• 38. Nehemiah 9:12
• 39. Numbers 11:17; Nehemiah 9:30; Isaiah 63:11-14
• 40. Deuteronomy 2:7
• 41. Numbers 21:21-35
• 42. Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17
• 43. Joshua 11:23; Joshua 21:43
• 44. Joshua 18:1
• 45. Deuteronomy 3:5
• 46. Numbers 13:27
• 47. Deuteronomy 6:11
• 48. Deuteronomy 32:15
• 49. 1 Kings 8:66
• 50. Judges 2:11
• 51. 1 Kings 14:9
• 52. 2 Chronicles 36:16
• 53. Nehemiah 9:30
• 54. Nehemiah 9:18
• 55. Judges 2:14
• 56. Deuteronomy 4:29
• 57. Judges 2:16
• 58. Judges 3:11
• 59. Psalms 106:43
• 60. Nehemiah 9:26, 30
• 61. Nehemiah 9:10, 16
• 62. Leviticus 18:5
• 63. Zechariah 7:11
• 64. Psalms 95:10; Acts 13:18
• 65. 2 Kings 17:13-18; 2 Chronicles 36:15, 16; Nehemiah 9:26, 29
• 66. Nehemiah 9:20
• 67. Jeremiah 4:27
• 68. Nehemiah 9:17
• 69. Nehemiah 1:5
• 70. 2 Kings 15:19, 29; 2 Kings 17:3-6; Ezra 4:2, 10
• 71. Genesis 18:25; Jeremiah 12:1
• 72. Deuteronomy 28:47
• 73. Nehemiah 9:25
• 74. Deuteronomy 28:48
• 75. Deuteronomy 28:33
• 76. Nehemiah 10:29
• 77. Nehemiah 10:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "seed"
• [b]. Lit "seed"
• [c]. Lit "Sea of Reeds"
• [d]. Lit "strong, mighty"
• [e]. Lit "lifted up Your hand"
• [f]. Lit "stiffened their neck;" so also v 17
• [g]. So Gr and some Heb mss; Heb reads "in their rebellion"
• [h]. Lit "acts of contempt"
• [i]. Lit "side, corner"
• [j]. So the Gr and the Latin; Heb reads "and the land of the king of Heshbon"
• [k]. Lit "according to their desire"
• [l]. Lit "fat"
• [m]. Lit "acts of contempt"
• [n]. Lit "gave"
• [o]. Lit "testimonies"
• [p]. Or "witnessed"
• [q]. Ch 10:1 in Heb

Chapter Summary

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.