Nehemiah 9:22-32

22 "You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And allotted them to them as a boundary. ¹They 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 ²the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

24 "³So their sons entered and possessed the land. And ⁴You 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 "⁵They captured fortified cities and a ⁶fertile land. They took possession of ⁷houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and ⁸grew fat, And ⁹reveled in Your great goodness.

26 "¹⁰But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And ¹¹cast Your law behind their backs And ¹²killed Your prophets who had ¹³admonished them So that they might return to You, And ¹⁴they committed great blasphemies.

27 "Therefore You ¹⁵delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You ¹⁶in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You ¹⁷gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.

28 "But ¹⁸as 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 ¹⁹many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,

29 And ²⁰admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet ²¹they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By ²²which if a man observes them he shall live. And they ²³turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

30 "²⁴However, You bore with them for many years, And ²⁵admonished them by ²⁶Your 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 ²⁷did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are ²⁸a gracious and compassionate God.

32 "Now therefore, our God, ²⁹the 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, ³⁰From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

Nehemiah 9:22-32 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.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 21:21-35
• 2. Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17
• 3. Joshua 11:23; Joshua 21:43
• 4. Joshua 18:1
• 5. Deuteronomy 3:5
• 6. Numbers 13:27
• 7. Deuteronomy 6:11
• 8. Deuteronomy 32:15
• 9. 1 Kings 8:66
• 10. Judges 2:11
• 11. 1 Kings 14:9
• 12. 2 Chronicles 36:16
• 13. Nehemiah 9:30
• 14. Nehemiah 9:18
• 15. Judges 2:14
• 16. Deuteronomy 4:29
• 17. Judges 2:16
• 18. Judges 3:11
• 19. Psalms 106:43
• 20. Nehemiah 9:26, 30
• 21. Nehemiah 9:10, 16
• 22. Leviticus 18:5
• 23. Zechariah 7:11
• 24. Psalms 95:10; Acts 13:18
• 25. 2 Kings 17:13-18; 2 Chronicles 36:15, 16; Nehemiah 9:26, 29
• 26. Nehemiah 9:20
• 27. Jeremiah 4:27
• 28. Nehemiah 9:17
• 29. Nehemiah 1:5
• 30. 2 Kings 15:19, 29; 2 Kings 17:3-6; Ezra 4:2, 10

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "side, corner"
• [b] So the Gr and the Latin; Heb reads "and the land of the king of Heshbon"
• [c] Lit "according to their desire"
• [d] Lit "fat"
• [e] Lit "acts of contempt"
• [f] Lit "gave"