Nehemiah 1
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month
Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
2 that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I
asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, that were left of the
captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the
province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is
broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and
mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 and said, I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and terrible
God, that keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep
his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hearken
unto the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and
night, for the children of Israel thy servants while I confess the sins of the
children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee. Yea, I and my father's
house have sinned:
7 we have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments,
nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses,
saying, If ye trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples:
9 but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your
outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from
thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to cause my name
to dwell there.
10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy
great power, and by thy strong hand.
11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy
servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name; and
prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of
this man. Now I was cupbearer to the king.