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The People Confess Their Sin |
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Nehemiah 9:1 |
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Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the
sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. |
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Nehemiah 9:2 |
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The descendants of Israel separated themselves
from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of
their fathers. |
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Nehemiah 9:3 |
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While they stood in their place, they read from
the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another
fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God. |
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Nehemiah 9:4 |
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Now on the Levites' platform stood Jeshua, Bani,
Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a
loud voice to the LORD their God. |
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Nehemiah 9:5 |
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Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah,
Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, "Arise, bless the LORD your
God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all
blessing and praise! |
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Nehemiah 9:6 |
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"You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The
seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host
bows down before You. |
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Nehemiah 9:7 |
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"You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought
him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham. |
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Nehemiah 9:8 |
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"You found his heart faithful before You, And
made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite
and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite-- To give it
to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous. |
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Nehemiah 9:9 |
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"You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And heard their cry by the Red Sea. |
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Nehemiah 9:10 |
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"Then You performed signs and wonders against
Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew
that they acted arrogantly toward them, And made a name for Yourself as it is
this day. |
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Nehemiah 9:11 |
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"You divided the sea before them, So they passed
through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And their pursuers You hurled into
the depths, Like a stone into raging waters. |
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Nehemiah 9:12 |
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"And with a pillar of cloud You led them by
day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they
were to go. |
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Nehemiah 9:13 |
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"Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke
with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes
and commandments. |
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Nehemiah 9:14 |
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"So You made known to them Your holy sabbath,
And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses.
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Nehemiah 9:15 |
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"You provided bread from heaven for them for
their hunger, You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And
You told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore to give them. |
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Nehemiah 9:16 |
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"But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They
became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments. |
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Nehemiah 9:17 |
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"They refused to listen, And did not remember
Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn
and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God
of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them. |
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Nehemiah 9:18 |
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"Even when they made for themselves A calf of
molten metal And said, 'This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,' And committed
great blasphemies, |
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Nehemiah 9:19 |
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You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake
them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide
them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way
in which they were to go. |
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Nehemiah 9:20 |
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"You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for
their thirst. |
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Nehemiah 9:21 |
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"Indeed, forty years You provided for them in
the wilderness and they were not in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor
did their feet swell. |
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Nehemiah 9:22 |
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"You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And
allotted them to them as a boundary. They took possession of the land of Sihon
the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan. |
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Nehemiah 9:23 |
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"You made their sons numerous as the stars of
heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to
enter and possess. |
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Nehemiah 9:24 |
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"So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, And You
gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, To do
with them as they desired. |
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Nehemiah 9:25 |
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"They captured fortified cities and a fertile
land. They took possession of houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns,
vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and
grew fat, And reveled in Your great goodness. |
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Nehemiah 9:26 |
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"But they became disobedient and rebelled against
You, And cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets who had admonished
them So that they might return to You, And they committed great blasphemies. |
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Nehemiah 9:27 |
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"Therefore You delivered them into the hand
of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You in the time
of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion
You gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.
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Nehemiah 9:28 |
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"But as soon as they had rest, they did evil
again before You; Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so
that they ruled over them. When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven,
And many times You rescued them according to Your compassion, |
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Nehemiah 9:29 |
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And admonished them in order to turn them back
to Your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments
but sinned against Your ordinances, By which if a man observes them he shall live.
And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
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Nehemiah 9:30 |
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"However, You bore with them for many years,
And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give
ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. |
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Nehemiah 9:31 |
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"Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You
did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are a gracious and compassionate
God. |
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Nehemiah 9:32 |
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"Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty,
and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness, Do not let all the
hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has come upon us, our kings, our
princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, From the
days of the kings of Assyria to this day. |
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Nehemiah 9:33 |
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"However, You are just in all that has come
upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly. |
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Nehemiah 9:34 |
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"For our kings, our leaders, our priests and
our fathers have not kept Your law Or paid attention to Your commandments and
Your admonitions with which You have admonished them. |
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Nehemiah 9:35 |
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"But they, in their own kingdom, With Your great
goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You set before
them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds. |
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Nehemiah 9:36 |
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"Behold, we are slaves today, And as to the
land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, Behold,
we are slaves in it. |
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Nehemiah 9:37 |
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"Its abundant produce is for the kings Whom
You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over
our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress. |
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A Covenant Results |
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Nehemiah 9:38 |
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"Now because of all this We are making an agreement
in writing; And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites
and our priests." |
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