Nehemiah 9:33–38

33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

36 “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.

38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”

33 Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: 34 Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. 35 For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. 36 Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: 37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. 38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

33 Every time you punished us you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved. 34 Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey your Law or listen to the warnings in your commands and laws. 35 Even while they had their own kingdom, they did not serve you, though you showered your goodness on them. You gave them a large, fertile land, but they refused to turn from their wickedness.

36 “So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! We are slaves here in this good land. 37 The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They have power over us and our livestock. We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.”

38 The people responded, “In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests.”

33 However You are just in all that has befallen us;

For You have dealt faithfully,

But we have done wickedly.

34 Neither our kings nor our princes,

Our priests nor our fathers,

Have kept Your law,

Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,

With which You testified against them.

35 For they have not served You in their kingdom,

Or in the many good things that You gave them,

Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;

Nor did they turn from their wicked works.

36 “Here we are, servants today!

And the land that You gave to our fathers,

To eat its fruit and its bounty,

Here we are, servants in it!

37 And it yields much increase to the kings

You have set over us,

Because of our sins;

Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle

At their pleasure;

And we are in great distress.

38 “And because of all this,

We make a sure covenant and write it;

Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it.”

33 You have been fair in everything that has happened to us;

you have been loyal, but we have been wicked.

34 Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey your teachings;

they did not pay attention to the commands and warnings you gave them.

35 Even when our ancestors were living in their kingdom,

enjoying all the good things you had given them,

enjoying the land that was fertile and full of room,

they did not stop their evil ways.

36 “Look, we are slaves today

in the land you gave our ancestors.

They were to enjoy its fruit and its good things,

but look, we are slaves here.

37 The land’s great harvest belongs to the kings you have put over us

because of our sins.

Those kings rule over us and our cattle as they please,

so we are in much trouble.

38 “Because of all this, we are making an agreement in writing, and our leaders, Levites, and priests are putting their seals on it.”

33 Howbeit thou art just in all that is come upon us; for thou hast dealt truly, but we have done wickedly; 34 neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies wherewith thou didst testify against them. 35 For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. 36 Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it. 37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have power over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. 38 And yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal unto it.

33 But thou art just in all that is come upon us; for thou hast acted according to truth, and we have done wickedly. 34 And our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers, have not performed thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. 35 And they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land that thou didst set before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. 36 Behold, we are servants this day, and the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are bondmen in it. 37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure; and we are in great distress. 38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests are at the sealing.

33 But you were fair about everything that has happened to us. 

You have been faithful, but we have been wicked. 

34 Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors didn’t obey your teachings. 

They didn’t pay attention to your commandments or the warnings 

that you gave them. 

35 When they lived in their own kingdom and enjoyed the many good things 

that you gave them in a vast, fertile land 

which was set in front of them, they didn’t serve you 

or turn away from their wicked lives. 

36 Look ⸤at us⸥ now. We’re slaves! 

In the land you gave our ancestors, 

they could eat its produce and ⸤enjoy⸥ its good things. 

But now we’re slaves! 

37 The many products ⸤from our land⸥ go to the kings you put over us. 

This is because of our sins. 

These kings have control over our bodies, 

and they do as they please with our livestock. 

We are in agony.

38 “We are making a binding agreement ⸤and putting it⸥ in writing because of all this. Our leaders, Levites, and priests are putting their seals on the document.” 

33 You are righteous concerning all that has come on us,

because You have acted faithfully,

while we have acted wickedly.

34 Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors

did not obey Your law

or listen to Your commands

and warnings You gave them.

35 When they were in their kingdom,

with Your abundant goodness that You gave them,

and in the spacious and fertile land You set before them,

they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.

36 Here we are today,

slaves in the land You gave our ancestors

so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness.

Here we are—slaves in it!

37 Its abundant harvest goes to the kings

You have set over us,

because of our sins.

They rule over our bodies

and our livestock as they please.

We are in great distress.

38 In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.

33 You have been just in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly; 34 our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law or heeded the commandments and the warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and in the great goodness you bestowed on them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their wicked works. 36 Here we are, slaves to this day, slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts. 37 Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins; they have power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.”

38 Because of all this we make a firm agreement in writing, and on that sealed document are inscribed the names of our officials, our Levites, and our priests.

33 You are righteous in everything that has come on us, for you dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors did not keep your law and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them. 35 And in their kingdom and in the greatness you gave to them, and in the wide and fertile land that you gave before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their evil deeds. 36 Behold, we are slaves to this day, and the land that you have given to our ancestors to eat its fruits and enjoy its goodness—behold, we are slaves in it! 37 Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have given over us because of our sins, and they are ruling over our dead bodies and our livestock at their pleasure. We are in great trouble.

38  “Now because of all of this we make a binding written agreement and are writing on the sealed documents the names of our commanders, our Levites, and our priests.”

33 “In spite of everything that has happened to us, you have been fair. You have been faithful in what you have done. But we did what was wrong. 34 Our kings and leaders didn’t follow your law. Our priests and our people before us didn’t follow it either. They didn’t pay any attention to your commands. They didn’t listen to the warnings you gave them. 35 They didn’t serve you. They didn’t turn from their evil ways. They didn’t obey you even when they had a kingdom. You were very good to them. And they enjoyed it. You gave them a rich land. It had plenty of room in it. But they still didn’t serve you.

36 “Now look at us. We are slaves today. We’re slaves in the land you gave our people long ago. You gave it to them so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 But we have sinned against you. So its great harvest goes to the kings of Persia. You have placed them over us. They rule over our bodies and cattle just as they please. And we are suffering terribly.

38 “So we are making a firm agreement. We’re writing it down. Our leaders are stamping it with their seals. And so are our Levites and priests.”

33 “However, You are just in all that has come upon us;

For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.

34 “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.

35 “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.

36 “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.

37 “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.

38 “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.”