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Nehemiah 9:2-37

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2 The 1descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners *, and stood and 2confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
3 While 3they 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 4Now 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 "5You alone are the LORD. 6You 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. 7You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.
7 "You are the LORD God, 8Who chose Abram And brought him out from 9Ur of the Chaldees, And 10gave him the name Abraham.
8 "You found 11his 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 12have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous.
9 "13You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And 14heard their cry by the Red * Sea.
10 "Then You performed 15signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that 16they acted arrogantly toward them, And 17made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 "18You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And 19their pursuers You hurled into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters.
12 "And with a pillar of cloud 20You 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 21You came down on Mount Sinai, And 22spoke with them from heaven; You gave them 23just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.
14 "So You made known to them 24Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses.
15 "You 25provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You 26brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You 27told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore * to give them.
16 "But they, our fathers, 28acted arrogantly; They 29became * stubborn * and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 "They refused to listen, And 30did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became * stubborn * and 31appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God 32of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.
18 "Even when they 33made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, 'This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,' And committed great blasphemies,
19 34You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; 35The 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 "36You 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, 37forty 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. 38They 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 39the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24 "40So their sons entered and possessed the land. And 41You 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 "42They captured fortified cities and a 43fertile land. They took possession of 44houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and 45grew fat, And 46reveled in Your great goodness.
26 "47But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And 48cast Your law behind their backs And 49killed Your prophets who had 50admonished them So that they might return to You, And 51they committed great blasphemies.
27 "Therefore You 52delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You 53in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You 54gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.
28 "But 55as 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 56many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,
29 And 57admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet 58they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By 59which if a man observes them he shall live. And they 60turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 "61However, You bore with them for many years, And 62admonished them by 63Your 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 64did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are 65a gracious and compassionate God.
32 "Now therefore, our God, 66the 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, 67From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 "However, 68You 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 69they, in their own kingdom, 70With 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, 71we 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 "72Its 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 9:2-37 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 72

Footnotes 16

  • [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"
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