Nehemiah 9:28-38

28 And when they had rested, they turned again to do evil in thy sight; and thou forsookest them in the hand of their enemies, and (their) enemies had them in possession; then they were turned again to thee, and cried to thee; and in thy mercy doing thou heardest them from heaven, and deliveredest them by many times. (And after they had rested, or had stopped for a while, again they turned to do evil before thee; and thou abandonedest them into the hands of their enemies, and their enemies subjugated them; then they turned again to thee, and cried to thee; and thou heardest them from heaven, and many times in thy mercy thou deliveredest them.)
29 And thou witnessedest to them, that they should turn again to thy law; but they did proudly, and heard not thy behests, and sinned in thy dooms, which a man that shall do (them), shall live in those; but they gave their shoulder and went away, and they made hard their nolls, and would not obey to thy dooms. (And thou witnessedest to them, that they should return to thy Law; but they did proudly, and would not listen to thy commandments, and sinned against thy judgements, which if a man shall do them, he shall live; but instead, they gave their shoulder to you and went away, and they were stiff-necked, or stubborn, and would not obey thy judgements.)
30 And thou drewest along many years upon them, and thou witnessedest to them in thy Spirit, by the hand, or telling, of thy prophets, that they were law-breakers; and they heard them not; and therefore thou gavest them into the hand of the peoples of (the) lands. (And thou wast patient with them for many years, and thou witnessedest to them by thy Spirit, through the words of thy prophets, that they were Law-breakers; but they did not listen to them; and so thou gavest them into the hands of the peoples of the lands.)
31 But in thy mercies full many, thou madest not them to be into wasting, neither thou forsookest them; for thou art God of merciful doings, and meek. (But in thy very many mercies, thou didest not destroy them, nor abandonedest them; for thou art a merciful and gracious God.)
32 Now therefore, our Lord God, great God, strong, and fearedful, keeping covenant and mercy, turn thou not away thy face from us in all the travail that hath found us, our kings, and our princes, and our fathers, and our priests, and our prophets, and all thy people, from the days of king Assur till to this day. (And so now, Lord our God, the great God, strong, and fearful, keeping covenant and mercy, turn thou not away thy face from us in all the travail that hath found us, yea, our kings, and our leaders, our fathers, and our priests, our prophets, and all thy people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.)
33 And Lord, thou art just in all (the) things, that came [up]on us, for thou didest truth(fully) to us; but we have done wickedly.
34 And our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our fathers, have not done thy law; and they perceived not thy behests and thy witnessings, which thou hast witnessed in thy behests. (And our kings, and our leaders, and our priests, and our fathers, have not obeyed thy Law; and they did not heed thy commandments and thy testimonies, which thou witnessed to them.)
35 And they, in their good realms, and in thy much goodness which thou gavest to them, and in the full large land and fat, which thou haddest given in the sight of them, served not thee, neither turned again from their worst studies. (And they, in their kingdoms/with their kings, and in the great goodness, or prosperity, which thou gavest them, and in the very broad and fertile land, which thou gavest them, served thee not, nor turned away from their evil doings.)
36 Lo! we ourselves be thralls to day; and the land which thou gavest to our fathers, that they should eat the bread thereof, and the goods that be thereof, is thrall; and we ourselves be thralls, either bondmen, in that land. (Lo! we ourselves be slaves today, in the land which thou gavest to our forefathers, so that they could eat its bread, and enjoy its good things; yea, we ourselves be slaves, or bondsmen, here in this land.)
37 And the fruits thereof be multiplied to (the) kings, which thou hast set upon us for our sins; and they be lords of our bodies, and of our beasts, by their will, and we be in great tribulation. (And its fruits be multiplied, but only unto the kings whom thou hast put upon us for our sins; and they be lords of us, and of our beasts, at their pleasure, and we be in great tribulation.)
38 Therefore on all these things we ourselves smite and write (a) bond of peace, and our princes, our deacons, and our priests aseal (it). (And so for all these things, we hereby make a covenant in writing, and our leaders, and our Levites, and our priests, put their seals to it.)

Nehemiah 9:28-38 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.