Open English Translation NEH Chapter 9

9 On the 24th of that month, the Israelis dressed in sackcloth, put dust on their heads, fasted, and gathered together. 2 Those of Jewish descent stood separately from the descendants of foreigners, and they confessed their own sins, as well as those of their ancestors. 3 They stood and listened to the scroll with Yahweh’s instructions being read for three hours, then for another three hours they confessed and bowed down to Yahweh their God. 4 Then Yeshua went up the Levites’ stairs with Bani, Kadmi’el, Shevanyah, Bunni, Shereveyah, another Bani, and Kenani, and they called out loudly to their God Yahweh.

5 Then some Levites (Yeshua, Kadmi’el, Bani, Hashavneyah, Shereveyah, Hodiyyah, Shevanyah, and Petahyah) said, “Stand up and bless your eternal God Yahweh: May the peoples bless your wonderful reputation which is greater than anything else that we bless or praise. 6 Yahweh, you alone are God. You yourself made the heavens, the galaxies in the heavens and all their stars, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and all the stars bow down to you.

7 “You are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram. Then you brought him out from Ur in the Chaldean region, then you renamed him to Abraham (meaning ‘father of many’). 8 You discovered that he was sincere and faithful to you, and made an agreement with him—to give the Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Yebusite, and the Girgashite regions to his descendants, and you have ensured that it’s all come to be because you’re righteous.[ref] 9 You noticed the suffering of our ancestors enslaved in Egypt, and then you heard their cry for help at the edge of the Red Sea.

10 “You displayed miracles to Far-oh (Pharaoh), and to all his servants and to all the Egyptian people, because you knew that they were acting as if you weren’t real, so you got yourself a reputation which you still have to this day.[ref] 11 Then you split the sea open the sea right in front of their eyes, and they walked through the middle of it on dry land. After that, you drowned their pursuers into the deep sea like a stone in a huge lake.[ref] 12 You led them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and during the night with a pillar of fire to illuminate the way that they should go.[ref]

13 “Then you came down to Mt. Sinai and spoke with them from the sky, and you gave to them principles of justice and laws of truth—good statutes and instructions.[ref] 14 You revealed the concept of a rest day to them, and you gave them rules and instructions and laws via your servant Mosheh (Moses).

15 “You gave them bread from the sky when they were hungry, and you made water come out of a rock when they were thirsty, then eventually you told them to go ahead to possess the land that you had said that you’d give to them.[ref]

16 “But our ancestors were proud and stubborn and they refused to obey your instructions.[ref] 17 Not only did they refuse to listen, they forgot about all the miracles that you’d done for them and they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness—gracious and compassionate, slow to get angry and generously showing loyal affection, and you didn’t abandon them.[ref] 18 Even when they molded a metal calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you out of Egypt’, and they badly insulted you,[ref] 19 you didn’t abandon them in the wilderness because you’re so merciful. You didn’t remove the pillar of cloud that led them on the way during the day, or remove the pillar of fire that shone at night for them to show them which way they should go.[ref] 20 You gave them your good spirit to give them insight. You didn’t withhold your manna for them to eat, and you still gave them water to drink, 21 yes, you sustained them in the wilderness for forty years—they had everything they needed—their clothes didn’t wear out, and their feet didn’t swell.

22 “Then you handed kingdoms and people groups over to them, and you let them settle in even the far corners of the regions. They took possession of the King Sihon’s Heshbon region, and King Og’s Bashan region.[ref] 23 You gave our ancestors lots of children so they were like the many stars in the sky, then you brought them into this land which you’d told their ancestors to enter and take ownership of.[ref] 24 Their children went in and took over the land after you went ahead of them and subdued the previous inhabitants, the Canaanites. You allowed them to defeat them and their kings, and the people groups in the land—letting them do whatever they wanted to do with them.[ref] 25 They captured fortified cities and productive land, and they took over houses full of all good things, stone cisterns, vineyards and olive orchards, and lots of fruit trees. They ate and were satisfied, and grew fat and enjoyed themselves as a result of your amazing goodness.[ref]

26 “But they disobeyed and rebelled against you, and they turned their backs on your instructions. They killed your prophets who testified against them in order to bring them back to you and they badly insulted you.[ref] 27 So you allowed their enemies to harass and conquer them. Then in the time of their distress, they cried out to you, and you yourself heard from heaven. Because you’re so merciful, you sent saviours to them who rescued them from their enemies. 28 After they’d returned to an era of peace, they reverted to doing evil again in front of you and you left them to submit to their enemies and the oppression that followed. Then they’d return and cry out to you, and you heard from heaven and delivered them many times because you’re merciful. 29 You showed them their errors so they’d return to following your instructions, but instead they ignored you and didn’t obey your commands. They ignored your values which would have helped them if they’d lived by them and they turned a stubborn shoulder, stiffened their necks, and refused to listen.[ref] 30 Yet you put up with them for many years, and you testified against them with your spirit through the messages of your prophets, but they still didn’t take any notice, so you allowed the other people groups to conquer them.[ref] 31 Howevever, because you’re so merciful, you didn’t abandon them and you didn’t wipe them out completely. Yes, you’re a God who’s gracious and merciful.

32 “So now God, our amazing, powerful, and awesome God who keeps his agreements due to his loyal commitment, don’t just ignore all our current hardships affecting us, our kings and our leaders, our priests and our prophets, and our ancestors and all your people, from the period of the Assyrian kings until today.[ref] 33 You are totally fair in allowing all that to happen to us, because you have behaved faithfully, but in contrast, we have behaved wickedly— 34 and our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors haven’t obeyed your instructions and they haven’t bothered with following your commands or taking notice of your complaints that you made know to them. 35 They served in their own kingdom and enjoyed the incredible goodness that you poured on them and the wide and prosperous land that you gave them, but they didn’t serve you, and they didn’t turn away from their evil actions.

36 “Take notice of us today—we’re servants, and the land that you gave to our ancestors so we could eat its fruit and its produce, but look at us now—we’re servants in our own land. 37 Now its plentiful produce belongs to the kings who you’ve placed over us due to our sins, and who rule over our bodies and over our livestock just however they want to, so we’re terribly distressed.

38 “So now in all of this, we’re faithfully making an agreement, and our leaders, our Levites, and our priests will even write it down on a document and sign it.”