Nehemiah 9:32-37

32 "Now, therefore, our God, ¹the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, ²since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.

33 ³Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully ⁴and we have acted wickedly.

34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them.

35 Even in their own kingdom, ⁵and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and ⁶rich land that you set before them, ⁷they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works.

36 Behold, ⁸we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves.

37 ⁹And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

Nehemiah 9:32-37 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.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 1:5; Deuteronomy 7:21
• 2. 2 Kings 17:3
• 3. See Ezra 9:15
• 4. Psalms 106:6; Daniel 9:5
• 5. ver. 25
• 6. ver. 25
• 7. Deuteronomy 28:47
• 8. Ezra 9:9
• 9. Deuteronomy 28:33, 51