Nehemiah 9

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites, in sackcloth and with dust on their heads,assembled for a fast.	1 And in the four and twentieth day of the month the children of Israel came together with fasting and with sackcloth, and earth upon them.
2 Then those of Israelite stock who had severed relations with al foreigners stood up and confessed theirsins and the iniquities of their ancestors.	2 And the seed of the children of Israel separated themselves from every stranger: and they stood, and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
3 Standing, each man in his place, they read from the Book of the Law of Yahweh their God for onequarter of the day; for another quarter they confessed their sins and worshipped Yahweh their God.	3 And they rose up to stand: and they read in the book of the law of the Lord their God, four times in the day, and four times they confessed, and adored the Lord their God.
4 On the Levites' platform stood Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani andChenani, cal ing to Yahweh their God in ringing tones.	4 And there stood up upon the seep of the Levites, Josue, and Bani, and Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias, Bani, and Chanani: and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
5 The Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah said,'Stand up and bless Yahweh your God! 'Blessed are you, Yahweh our God from everlasting to everlasting, andblessed be your glorious name, surpassing al blessing and praise!	5 And the Levites Josue and Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia, Oduia, Sebnia, and Phathahia, said: Arise, bless the Lord your God from eternity to eternity: and blessed be the high name of thy glory with all blessing and praise.
6 'You, Yahweh, are the one, only Yahweh, you have created the heavens, the heaven of heavens andal their array, the earth and al it bears, the seas and all they hold. To al of them you give life, and the array ofheaven worships you.	6 Thou thyself, O Lord alone, thou hast made heaven, and the heaven of heavens, and all the host thereof: the earth and all things that are in it: the seas and all that are therein: and thou givest life to all these things, and the host of heaven adoreth thee.
7 'You are Yahweh God, who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur in Chaldaea and changed his name toAbraham.	7 Thou, O Lord God, art he who chosest Abram, and broughtest him forth out of the fire of the Chaldeans, and gavest him the name of Abraham.
8 Finding his heart was faithful to you, you made a covenant with him, to give the country of theCanaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites and the Girgashites to him and hisdescendants. And you have made good your promises, for you are upright.	8 And thou didst find his heart faithful before thee: and thou madest a covenant with him, to give him the land of the Chanaanite, of the Hethite, and of the Amorrhite, and of the Pherezite, and of the Jebusite, and of the Gergezite, to give it to his seed: and thou hast fulfilled thy words, because thou art just.
9 'You saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt, you heard their cry by the Sea of Reeds.	9 And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt: and thou didst hear their cry by the Red Sea.
10 You displayed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against al his servants and al the people of hisland; for you knew how arrogantly they treated them. You won a reputation which you keep to this day.	10 And thou shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharao, and upon all his servants, and upon the people of his land : for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them: and thou madest thyself a name, as it is at this day.
11 You opened up the sea in front of them: they walked on dry ground right through the sea. Into thedepths you hurled their pursuers like a stone into the raging waters.	11 And thou didst divide the sea before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land: but their persecutors thou threwest into the depth, as a stone into mighty waters.
12 With a pillar of cloud you led them by day, with a pil ar of fire by night: to light the way ahead of themby which they were to go.	12 And in a pillar of a cloud thou wast their leader by day, and in a pillar of Are by night, that they might see the way by which they went.
13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven; you gave them right rules, reliablelaws, good statutes and commandments;	13 Thou camest down also to mount Sinai, and didst speak with them from heaven, and thou gavest them right judgments, and the law of truth, ceremonies, and good precepts.
14 you revealed your holy Sabbath to them; you laid down commandments, statutes and law for themthrough your servant Moses.	14 Thou madest known to them thy holy sabbath, and didst prescribe to them commandments, and ceremonies, and the law by the hand of Moses thy servant.
15 For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, for their thirst you brought them water out of arock, and you told them to go in and take possession of the country which you had sworn to give them.	15 And thou gavest them bread from heaven in their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock in their thirst, and thou saidst to them that they should go in, and possess the land, upon which thou hadst lifted up thy hand to give it them.
16 'But they and our ancestors acted arrogantly, grew obstinate and flouted your commands.	16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks and hearkened not to thy commandments.
17 They refused to obey, forgetful of the wonders which you had worked for them; they grew obstinateand made up their minds to return to their slavery in Egypt. But because you are a forgiving God, gracious andcompassionate, patient and rich in faithful love, you did not abandon them!	17 And they would not hear, and they remembered not thy wonders which thou hadst done for them. And they hardened their necks, and gave the head to return to their bondage, as it were by contention. But thou, a forgiving God, gracious, and merciful, longsuffering, and full of compassion, didst not forsake them.
18 'Even when they cast themselves a calf out of molten metal and said, "This is your God who brought you up from Egypt!" and committed monstrous impieties,	18 Yea when they had made also to themselves a molten calf, and had said: This is thy God, that brought thee out of Egypt: and hail committed great blasphemies :
19 you, in your great compassion, did not abandon them in the desert: the pillar of cloud did not leavethem, leading them on their path by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, lighting the way ahead of them by whichthey were to go.	19 Yet thou, in thy many mercies, didst not leave them in the desert: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way, and the pillar of fire by night to shew them the way by which they should go.
20 You gave them your good spirit to instruct them, you did not withhold your manna from their mouths,you gave them water for their thirst.	20 And thou gavest them thy good Spirit to teach them, and thy manna thou didst not withhold from their mouth, and thou gavest them water for their thirst.
21 For forty years you cared for them in the desert, so that they went short of nothing, their clothes didnot wear out, nor were their feet swol en.	21 Forty years didst thou feed them in the desert, and nothing was wanting to them: their garments did not grow old, and their feet were not worn.
22 'You gave them kingdoms and peoples, al otting them these as frontier lands; they occupied thecountry of Sihon king of Heshbon, and the country of Og king of Bashan.	22 And thou gavest them kingdoms, and nations, and didst divide lots for them: and they possessed the land of Sehon, and the land of the king of Hesebon, and the land of Og king of Basan.
23 You gave them as many children as there are stars in the sky, and brought them into the countrywhich you had promised their ancestors that they would enter and possess.	23 And thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them to the land concerning which thou hadst said to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it.
24 The children entered and took possession of the country and before them you subdued the country'sinhabitants, the Canaanites, whom you put at their mercy, with their kings and the peoples of the country, forthem to treat as they pleased;	24 And the children came and possessed the land, and thou didst humble before them the inhabitants of the land, the Chanaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as it pleased them.
25 they captured fortified towns and a fertile countryside, they took possession of houses stocked with alkinds of goods, of storage-wel s ready-hewn, of vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in profusion; so they ate,were ful , grew fat and revelled in your great goodness.	25 And they took strong cities and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods: cisterns made by others, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: and they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and abounded with delight in thy great goodness.
26 'But they grew disobedient, rebelled against you and thrust your law behind their backs; theyslaughtered your prophets who had reproved them to bring them back to you, and committed monstrousimpieties.	26 But they provoked thee to wrath, and departed from thee, and threw thy law behind their backs: and they killed thy prophets, who admonished them earnestly to return to thee : and they were guilty of great blasphemies.
27 So you put them at the mercy of their enemies who oppressed them. But when they were beingoppressed and cal ed to you, you heard them from heaven and because of your great compassion you gavethem deliverers who rescued them from their oppressors' clutches.	27 And thou gavest them into the hands of their enemies, and they afflicted them. And in the time of their tribulation they cried to thee, and thou heardest from heaven, and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies thou gavest them saviours, to save them from the hands of their enemies.
28 But once at peace again, again they did what was wrong before you; so you put them at the mercy oftheir enemies who then became their rulers. When they cal ed to you again, you heard them from heaven and,because of your compassion, rescued them many times.	28 But after they had rest, they returned to do evil in thy sight : and thou leftest them in the hand of their enemies, and they had dominion over them. Then they returned, and cried to thee: and thou heardest from heaven, and deliveredst them many times in thy mercies.
29 You warned them, to bring them back to your law, but they became arrogant, did not obey yourcommandments and sinned against your rules, in whose observance is life; they turned a stubborn shoulder,were obstinate, and disobeyed.	29 And thou didst admonish them to re turn to thy law. But they dealt proudly, and hearkened not to thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them: and they withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
30 You were patient with them for many years and warned them by your spirit through your prophets, butthey would not listen; so you put them at the mercy of the people of the country.	30 And thou didst forbear with them for many years, and didst testify against them by thy spirit by the hand of thy prophets: and they heard not, and thou didst deliver them into the hand of the people of the lands.
31 But, because of your great compassion, you did not destroy them completely nor abandon them, foryou are a gracious, compassionate God.	31 Yet in thy very many mercies thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them: because thou art a merciful and gracious God.
32 Now, our God -- the great God, the Mighty and Awe-inspiring One, maintaining the covenant and yourfaithful love- count as no small thing this misery which has befal en us, our kings, our princes, our priests, ourprophets, and al your people from the times of the Assyrian kings to the present day.	32 Now therefore our God, great, strong and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy, turn not away from thy face all the labour which hath come upon us, upon our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and all the people from the days of the king of Assur, until this day.
33 You have been upright in al that has happened to us, for you acted faithful y, while we did wrong.	33 And thou art just in all things that have come upon us: because thou hast done truth, but we have done wickedly.
34 Our kings, our princes, our priests and our ancestors did not keep your law or pay attention to yourcommandments and obligations which you imposed upon them.	34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept thy law, and have not minded thy commandments, and thy testimonies which thou hast testified among them.
35 Even in their own kingdom, despite your great goodness which you bestowed on them, despite thewide and fertile country which you had lavished on them, they did not serve you or renounce their evil deeds.	35 And they have not served thee in their kingdoms, and in thy manifold goodness, which thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land, which thou deliveredst before them, nor did they return from their most wicked devices.
36 See, we are slaves today, slaves in the country which you gave to our ancestors for them to eat thegood things it produces.	36 Behold we ourselves this day are bondmen: and the land, which thou gavest our fathers, to eat the bread thereof, and the good things thereof, and we ourselves are servants in it.
37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings whom, for our sins, you have set over us, who rule over ourpersons and over our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.'	37 And the fruits thereof grow up for the kings, whom thou hast set over us for our sins, and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our beasts, according to their will, and we are in great tribulation.
	38 and because of all this we ourselves make a covenant, and write it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests sign it.