Chapter 9

Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled⁸ with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

And the seed of Israel separated¹¹ themselves from all strangers, ⁵²³⁶ and stood⁴ and confessed¹⁰¹ their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

And they stood up⁴ in their place, and read⁴ in the book of the law of the LORD their God [one] fourth part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed,¹⁰² and worshipped¹⁰² the LORD their God.

Then stood up⁴ upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, and cried⁴ with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said,⁴ Stand up³ [and] bless¹⁶ the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed¹⁷ be thy glorious name, which is exalted³⁸ above all blessing and praise.

Thou, [even] thou, [art] LORD alone; thou hast made¹ heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all [things] that [are] therein, the seas, and all that [is] therein, and thou preservest¹⁸ them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth¹⁰² thee.

Thou [art] the LORD the God, who didst choose¹ Abram, and broughtest him forth⁵² out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest¹ him the name of Abraham;

And foundest¹ his heart faithful¹² before thee, and madest² a covenant with him to give² the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give² [it, I say], to his seed, and hast performed⁵⁵ thy words; for thou [art] righteous:

And didst see⁴ the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest¹ their cry by the Red sea;

And shewedst⁴ signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest¹ that they dealt proudly⁵² against them. So didst thou get⁴ thee a name, as [it is] this day.

And thou didst divide¹ the sea before them, so that they went through⁴ the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors⁶ thou threwest⁵² into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.

Moreover thou leddest⁵² them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light⁵³ in the way wherein they should go.⁴

Thou camest down¹ also upon mount Sinai, and spakest¹⁵ with them from heaven, and gavest⁴ them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:

And madest known⁵² unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst¹⁴ them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

And gavest¹ them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth⁵² water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst⁴ them that they should go in² to possess² the land which thou hadst¹ sworn to give² them.

But they and our fathers dealt proudly,⁵² and hardened⁵⁵ their necks, and hearkened¹ not to thy commandments,

And refused¹⁷ to obey,² neither were mindful¹ of thy wonders¹² that thou didst¹ among them; but hardened⁵⁵ their necks, and in their rebellion appointed⁴ a captain to return² to their bondage: but thou [art] a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest¹ them not.

Yea, when they had made¹ them a molten calf, and said,⁴ This [is] thy God that brought thee up⁵² out of Egypt, and had wrought⁴ great provocations;

Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest¹ them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed¹ not from them by day, to lead⁵³ them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light,⁵³ and the way wherein they should go.⁴

Thou gavest¹ also thy good spirit to instruct⁵³ them, and withheldest¹ not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest¹ them water for their thirst.

Yea, forty years didst thou sustain⁴³ them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked¹ nothing; their clothes waxed not old,¹ and their feet swelled¹ not.

Moreover thou gavest⁴ them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide⁴ them into corners: so they possessed⁴ the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

Their children also multipliedst⁵² thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest⁵⁵ them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised¹ to their fathers, that they should go in² to possess² [it].

So the children went in⁴ and possessed⁴ the land, and thou subduedst⁵⁵ before them the inhabitants⁶ of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest⁴ them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do² with them as they would.

And they took⁴ strong⁷ cities, and a fat land, and possessed⁴ houses full of all goods, wells digged,⁷ vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat,⁴ and were filled,⁴ and became fat,⁵⁵ and delighted¹⁰¹ themselves in thy great goodness.

Nevertheless they were disobedient,⁵⁵ and rebelled⁴ against thee, and cast⁵⁵ thy law behind their backs, and slew¹ thy prophets which testified⁵² against them to turn⁵³ them to thee, and they wrought⁴ great provocations.

Therefore thou deliveredst⁴ them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed⁵⁵ them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried⁴ unto thee, thou heardest⁴ [them] from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest⁴ them saviours,⁵⁶ who saved⁵⁵ them out of the hand of their enemies.

But after they had rest,² they did² evil again⁴ before thee: therefore leftest⁴ thou them in the hand of their enemies,⁶ so that they had the dominion⁴ over them: yet when they returned,⁴ and cried⁴ unto thee, thou heardest⁴ [them] from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver⁵⁵ them according to thy mercies;

And testifiedst⁵⁵ against them, that thou mightest bring them again⁵³ unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly,⁵² and hearkened¹ not unto thy commandments, but sinned¹ against thy judgments, (which if a man do,⁴ he shall live¹ in them;) and withdrew^{4 5637 6} the shoulder, and hardened⁵² their neck, and would not hear.¹

Yet many years didst thou forbear⁴ them, and testifiedst⁵⁵ against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear:⁵² therefore gavest⁴ thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst¹ not utterly consume them, nor forsake¹ them; for thou [art] a gracious and merciful God.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible¹² God, who keepest⁶ covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little⁴ before thee, that hath come upon¹ us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

Howbeit thou [art] just in all that is brought⁶ upon us; for thou hast done¹ right, but we have done wickedly:⁵²

Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept¹ thy law, nor hearkened⁵² unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify⁵² against them.

For they have not served¹ thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest¹ them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest¹ before them, neither turned¹ they from their wicked works.

Behold, we [are] servants this day, and [for] the land that thou gavest¹ unto our fathers to eat² the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we [are] servants in it:

And it yieldeth much⁵⁶ increase unto the kings whom thou hast set¹ over us because of our sins: also they have dominion⁶ over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we [are] in great distress.

And because of all this we make⁶ a sure [covenant], and write⁶ [it]; and our princes, Levites, [and] priests, seal⁷ [unto it].