Nehemiah 1:5The MessageI said, “God, God-of-Heaven, the great and awesome God, loyal to his covenant and faithful to those who love him and obey his commands: Look at me, listen to me. Pay attention to this prayer of your servant that I’m praying day and night in intercession for your servants, the People of Israel, confessing the sins of the People of Israel. And I’m including myself, I and my ancestors, among those who have sinned against you. See the chapter |
And now, our God, the great God, God majestic and terrible, loyal in covenant and love, Don’t treat lightly the trouble that has come to us, to our kings and princes, our priests and prophets, Our ancestors, and all your people from the time of the Assyrian kings right down to today. You are not to blame for all that has come down on us; You did everything right, we did everything wrong. None of our kings, princes, priests, or ancestors followed your Revelation; They ignored your commands, dismissed the warnings you gave them. Even when they had their own kingdom and were enjoying your generous goodness, Living in that spacious and fertile land that you spread out before them, They didn’t serve you or turn their backs on the practice of evil. And here we are, slaves again today; and here’s the land you gave our ancestors So they could eat well and enjoy a good life, and now look at us—no better than slaves on this land. Its wonderful crops go to the kings you put over us because of our sins; They act like they own our bodies and do whatever they like with our cattle. We’re in deep trouble.
So don’t be intimidated by them. God, your God, is among you—majestic God, awesome God. God, your God, will get rid of these nations, bit by bit. You won’t be permitted to wipe them out all at once lest the wild animals take over and overwhelm you. But God, your God, will move them out of your way—he’ll throw them into a huge panic until there’s nothing left of them. He’ll turn their kings over to you and you’ll remove all trace of them under Heaven. Not one person will be able to stand up to you; you’ll put an end to them all.