Nehemiah 9 - Easy To Read Version Easy To Read Version
Nehemiah 9

¹ Then on the 24th day of that same month, the people of Israel gathered together for a day of fasting. {\cf2\super [48]} They wore clothes of sadness and put ashes on their heads \{to show they were sad and upset\}.

² Those people that were true Israelites separated themselves from foreigners. The Israelites stood \{in the temple\} and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. {\cf2\super [49]}

³ They stood there for about three hours, and the people read the Book of the Law of the Lord their God. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and bowed down to worship the Lord their God.

⁴ Then these Levites stood on the stairs: Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani. They called out to the Lord their God with loud voices.

⁵ Then these Levites spoke again: Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah. They said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God!”

⁶ You are God!\par Lord, only you are God!\par You made the sky!\par You made the highest heavens,\par and everything in them!\par You made the earth,\par and everything on it!\par You made the seas,\par and everything in them!\par You give life to everything!\par And all the heavenly angels\par bow down and worship you!\par

⁷ You are the Lord God.\par You chose Abram.\par You led him from Ur in Babylonia.\par You changed his name to Abraham.\par

⁸ You saw he was true and loyal to you.\par And you made an agreement with him.\par You promised to give him the land of\par the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites,\par the Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites.\par But you promised to give that land to Abraham’s descendants. {\cf2\super [50]} \par And you kept your promise!\par Why? Because you are good!\par

⁹ You saw our ancestors {\cf2\super [51]} suffering in Egypt.\par And you heard them call for help\par by the Red Sea.\par

¹⁰ You showed the miracles to Pharaoh.\par You did amazing things to his officials and his people.\par You knew that the Egyptians thought\par they were better than our ancestors.\par But you proved how great you are!\par And they remember that even today!\par

¹¹ You split the Red Sea in front of them.\par And they walked through on dry land!\par The Egyptian soldiers were chasing them.\par But you threw that enemy into the sea.\par And they sank like a rock into the sea.\par

¹² With the tall cloud, you led them by day.\par And at night you used the column of fire.\par That is the way you lit their path,\par and showed them where to go.\par

¹³ Then you came down to Mount Sinai.\par You spoke to them from heaven.\par You gave them good laws.\par You gave them true teachings.\par You gave them laws and commands that were very good!\par

¹⁴ You told them about your special day of rest—the Sabbath.\par You used your servant Moses to give them commands, laws, and teachings.\par

¹⁵ They were hungry,\par so you gave them food from heaven.\par They were thirsty,\par so you gave them water from a rock.\par And you told them,\par ‘Come, take this land.’\par You used your power,\par and took the land for them!\par

¹⁶ But those people, our ancestors, {\cf2\super [52]} \par became proud.\par They became stubborn.\par They refused to obey your commands.\par

¹⁷ They refused to listen.\par They forgot the amazing things you did with them!\par They became stubborn.\par They decided to return to Egypt\par and became slaves again!\par

¹⁸ You didn’t leave them even when\par they made golden calves and said,\par ‘These are the gods\par that led us out of Egypt!’\par

¹⁹ You are very kind!\par So you didn’t leave them in the desert.\par You didn’t take the tall cloud\par away from them by day.\par You continued to lead them.\par You didn’t take the column of fire\par away from them at night.\par You continued to light their path\par and show them which way to go.\par

²⁰ You gave them your good Spirit\par to make them wise.\par You gave them manna for food.\par You gave them water for their thirst.\par

²¹ You took care of them for 40 years!\par They had all they needed in the desert.\par Their clothes didn’t wear out.\par And their feet didn’t swell and hurt.\par

²² Lord, you gave them kingdoms and nations.\par And you gave them faraway places\par where few people live.\par They got the land of Sihon,\par king of Heshbon.\par They got the land of Og,\par king of Bashan.\par

²³ You made their descendants {\cf2\super [53]} \par as many as the stars in the sky.\par You brought them to the land\par you promised to give their ancestors. {\cf2\super [54]} \par They went in and took that land.\par

²⁴ Those children took the land.\par They defeated the Canaanites living there.\par You let them defeat those people!\par You let them do whatever they wanted\par to those nations, people, and kings!\par

²⁵ They defeated powerful cities.\par They took the fertile land.\par They got houses filled with good things.\par They got wells that were already dug.\par They got vineyards, olive trees, and plenty of fruit trees!\par They ate until they were full and fat.\par They enjoyed all the wonderful things\par you gave them.\par

²⁶ And then they turned against you!\par They threw away your teachings!\par They killed your prophets.\par Those prophets warned the people.\par They tried to bring them back to you.\par But our ancestors {\cf2\super [55]} did terrible things\par against you!\par

²⁷ So you let their enemies have them.\par The enemy caused them much trouble.\par When trouble came,\par our ancestors called to you for help.\par And in heaven, you heard them.\par You are very kind.\par So you sent people to save them.\par And those people rescued them from their enemies.\par

²⁸ Then, as soon as our ancestors {\cf2\super [56]} were rested,\par they started doing terrible things again!\par So you let the enemy defeat them\par and punish them.\par They called to you for help,\par and in heaven you heard them\par and helped them.\par You are so kind!\par That happened so many times!\par

²⁹ You warned them.\par You told them to come back.\par But they were too proud.\par They refused to listen to your commands.\par If people obey your laws,\par then they will truly live!\par But our ancestors {\cf2\super [57]} broke your laws.\par They were stubborn.\par They turned their backs on you.\par They refused to listen.\par

³⁰ You were very patient with our ancestors.\par You let them mistreat you for many years.\par You warned them with your Spirit.\par You sent the prophets to warn them.\par But our ancestors {\cf2\super [58]} didn’t listen.\par So you gave them to people in other countries.\par

³¹ But you are so kind!\par You didn’t destroy them completely.\par You didn’t leave them.\par You are such a kind and merciful God!\par

³² Our God, you are the great God,\par the awesome, powerful soldier!\par And you are kind and loyal!\par You keep your agreement!\par We have had many troubles.\par And our troubles are important to you!\par Bad things happened to all our people,\par and to our kings and leaders,\par and to our priests and prophets.\par Those terrible things have happened\par from the days of the king of Assyria\par until today!\par

³³ But God, you were right\par about everything that happens to us.\par You were right.\par And we were wrong.\par

³⁴ Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors\par did not obey your law.\par They didn’t listen to your commands.\par They ignored your warnings.\par

³⁵ Our ancestors didn’t serve you\par even when they were living\par in their own kingdom,\par They didn’t stop doing evil things.\par They enjoyed all the wonderful things\par you gave them.\par They enjoyed the rich land\par and they had plenty of room,\par but they didn’t stop their evil ways.\par

³⁶ And now, we are slaves.\par We are slaves in this land,\par the land you gave our ancestors\par so they could enjoy its fruit and\par all the good things that grow here.\par

³⁷ The harvest is big in this land.\par But we sinned, so that harvest\par goes to the kings you put over us.\par Those kings control us and our cattle.\par They do anything they want.\par We are in a lot of trouble.\par

³⁸ Because of all of these things,\par we are making an agreement\par that can’t be changed.\par We are putting this agreement in writing.\par Our leaders, Levites, and priests\par are signing their names\par on this agreement\par