Nehemiah 9

Great(i) 1 In the foure & twentye daye of this moneth came the children of Israel together agayne, wyth fastinge and sack clothes, and erth vpon them, 2 and they that were of the sede of Israel were separated from all the straunge children, & stode & knowleged theyr synnes, & the wyckednesses of theyr fathers, 3 & stode vp in theyr place, & red in the boke of the lawe of the Lord their God foure tymes on the daye, and they knowleged, & worshipped the Lord their God foure tymes on the daye. 4 And the Leuytes stode on hye, namely Iesua, Bani, Cadmiel, Sabaniah, Buni, Sarebiah, Bani, & Chanani, & cryed loude vnto the Lord theyr God. 5 And the Leuites, Iesua and Cadmiel Bani and Hasabnia, Serebia & Hodia, Sebania, and Phathahia, sayde: stande vp, and prayse the Lord yor God for euer: & let thankes be geuen vnto the name of thy glorye, which excelleth all thankesgeuynge & prayse. 6 Thou art Lord alone. Thou hast made heauen, & the heauen of all heauens, with all theyr hoost, the earth & all thinges that are therin, the see & all that is therin: & thou preseruest them all, and the hoost of heauen worshippeth the. 7 Thou art the Lord God, that hast chosen Abram, & broughtest hym out of Ur in Chaldea, and calledst him Abraham, 8 and foundest hys hert faythfull before the and madest a couenaunt wyth him, to geue vnto hys sede the lande of the Cananites, Hethites, Amorites, Pheresites, Iebusites and Gersites, and hast made good thy wordes: for thou art ryghteous 9 and hast consydered the mysery of oure fathers in Egypte, and hearde their complaynte by the reed see, 10 and shewed tokens & wonders vpon Pharao, and on all hys seruauntes, and on all the people of hys lande: for thou knewest, that they were presumptuous and cruell agaynst them, and so madest thou the a name, as it is thys daye. 11 And the reed see dydest thou deuyde in sunder before them, so that they went thorow the myddes of the see drye shode: and theyr persecuters threwest thou into the depe (as a stone) in the myghtie waters, 12 & leddest them on the daye tyme in a cloudy pyller, & on the nyghte season in a pyller of fyre, to shewe them lyghte in the waye that they wente. 13 Thou camest downe also vpon mount Sinai, & spakest vnto them from heauen, and gauest them right iudgmentes, true lawes good commaundementes and statutes, 14 and declaredst vnto them thy holy Saboth, and commaundest them preceptes, ordinaunces, and lawes, by the hand of Moses thy seruaunt: 15 and gauest them bred from heauen when they were hongrye, & broughtest forth water for them out of the rock when they were thyrstye: and promysedst them, that they shuld go in, and take possessyon of the land, ouer whych thou haddest lyfte vp thyne hand for to geue them. 16 But they & oure fathers were proude and hardnecked, so that they folowed not the commaundementes, 17 and wolde not obeye, nether were myndefull of the wonders that thou dyddest for them: but became obstynate and heady, in so moche, that they turned backe to theyr bondage for theyr disobedyence. And thou my God forgauest, and wast gracyous, mercyfull, pacyent, and of greate goodnesse, and forsokest them not 18 And though they made a moulten calfe (& sayde: Thys is thy goddes that brought the out of the land of Egypte) and dyd greate blasphemyes, 19 yet forsokest thou them not in the wyldernes, accordyng to thy greate mercy. And the cloudy pyller departed not from them on the daye tyme to leade them the waye, nether the pyller of fyre in the nyght season, to shewe them lyghte in the waye that they wente. 20 And thou gauest them thy good sprete, to enfourme them, and withheldest not thy Manna from theyr mouth, and gauest them water when they were thyrstye. 21 Fortye yeares longe madest thou prouisyon for them in the wyldernesse, so that they lacked nothynge, their clothes waxed not olde, and their fete swelled not. 22 And thou gauest them kyngedomes and nacyons, & partedst them accordynge to their porcions, so that they possessed the lande of Sehon kyng of Hesebon, and the lande of Og the kynge of Basan. 23 And their chyldren multiplyedst thou as the starres of heauen, and broughtest them into the lande, wherof thou haddest spoken vnto theyr fathers, that they shulde go into it, and haue it in possessyon. 24 And the chyldren went in, and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabyter of the lande, euen the Cananites, and gauest them into theyr hande, with their kynges and the people of the lande, that they might do with them what they wolde. 25 And they wanne theyr stronge cyties, and a fat lande, and toke possessyon of houses that were full of all maner of goodes, welles digged out, vineyardes, oylegardens, and many frutefull trees: and they dyd eate, & were fylled, and became fat, and lyued in welth thorow thy greate goodnes. 26 Neuertheles they were disobedient, & rebelled agaynst the, and cast thy lawe behynde their backes, and slewe thy prophetes (which exhorted them earnestly, that they myght bring them agayne vnto the) & dyd greate blasphemyes. 27 Therfore, thou gauest them ouer into the hand of their enemyes, that vexed them. And in the tyme of their trouble whan they cryed vnto the, thou hardest them from heauen: & thorow thy greate mercy thou gauest them sauiours, whych helped them out of the hande of their enemyes. 28 But when they came to rest, they turned back agayne, to do euell before the: therfore leftest thou them in the hande of theyr enemyes, so that they had the dominyon ouer them. And whan they conuerted, and cryed vnto the, thou herdeft them from heauen, & many tymes hast thou delyuered them accordyng to thy greate mercy, 29 & testyfyedst vnto them, that thou myghtest bryng them agayne vnto thy lawe. Not withstandyng, they were proude, & herkened not vnto thy commaundementes, but synned in thy lawes (whych yf a man do he shall lyue in them,) and turned the shoulder awaye, and were styffnecked, and wolde not heare. 30 And many yeares dyddest thou forbeare them, & testifyedst vnto them thorow thy sprete, euen by the hande of thy prophetes, and yet wolde they not heare. Therfore gauest thou them into the hande of the nacions in the landes. 31 And for thy great mercyes sake thou hast not vtterly consumed them, nether forsaken them: for thou art a gracyous and mercyfull God. 32 Now therfore oure God, thou greate God, myghtye and terrible, thou that kepest couenaunt & mercy, regarde not a lytle all the trauayle that hath happened vnto vs, and oure kinges, oure princes, our preastes, oure prophetes, & our fathers, and all thy people, sence the tyme of the kynges of Assur vnto thys daye. 33 And truly, thou art iust in all that thou hast broughte vpon vs: for thou hast done ryght. 34 As for vs, we haue bene vngodly, & oure kynges, & oure princes, oure preastes, & oure fathers haue not done after thy lawe, nor regarded thy commaundementes, & thy earnest exhortacyons, wherwith thou hast exhorted them, 35 & they haue not serued the in their kyngdome, & in thy greate goodes that thou gauest them, and in the large and plenteous lande which thou gauest before them, & haue not conuerted from their wycked worckes. 36 Beholde, we are in bondage this daye: & so is the lande that thou gauest vnto oure fathers, to enioye the frutes & goodes therof, beholde, there are we bondmen. 37 And greate is the increase of it vnto the kynges, whom thou hast set ouer vs, because of oure synnes, & they haue domynion ouer oure bodyes and catell (euen as they will them selues,) and we are in great trouble. 38 And in all this make we a sure couenaunt, & wryte it, and oure princes, Leuites & preastes seale vnto it,