Nehemiah 9

Nehemiah · Chapter 9

Nehemiah 9:38

1Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.2And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.3And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.4Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.5Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.6Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.7Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;8And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:9And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;10And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.11And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.12Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.13Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:14And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:15And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.16But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,17And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.18Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;19Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.20Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.21Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.22Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.23Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.24So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.25And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.26Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.27Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.28But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;29And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.30Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.31Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.32Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.33Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:34Neither 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.35For 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.36Behold, 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:37And 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.38And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
38And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”And yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal unto it.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and in allוּבְכָל־u-ve-KHOL-H3605
all

כֹּל (kol) 1) all, the whole 1a) all, the whole of 1b) any, each, every, anything 1c) totality, everything Aramaic equivalent: kol (כֹּל "all" H3606)

thisזֹ֕אתzotH2063
this

זֹאת (zot) 1) this, this one, here, which, this...that, the one...the other, such 1a) (alone) 1a1) this one 1a2) this...that, the one...the other, another 1b) (appos to subst) 1b1) this 1c) (as predicate) 1c1) this, such 1d) (enclitically) 1d1) then 1d2) who, whom 1d3) how now, what now 1d4) what now 1d5) wherefore now 1d6) behold here 1d7) just now 1d8) now, now already 1e) (poetry) 1e1) wherein, which, those who 1f) (with prefixes) 1f1) in this (place) here, then 1f2) on these conditions, herewith, thus provided, by, through this, for this cause, in this matter 1f3) thus and thus …

weאֲנַ֛חְנוּ'a-NACH-nuH0587
we

אֲנוּ (a.nu) we (first pers. pl. -usually used for emphasis) Another spelling of a.nach.nu (אֲנַ֫חְנוּ "we" H0587)

[are] makingכֹּרְתִ֥יםko-re-TIMH3772H
to cut: cut

כָּרַת (ka.rat) : cut/fell 1) to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to cut off 1a1a) to cut off a body part, behead 1a2) to cut down 1a3) to hew 1a4) to cut or make a covenant 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be cut off 1b2) to be cut down 1b3) to be chewed 1b4) to be cut off, fail 1c) (Pual) 1c1) to be cut off 1c2) to be cut down 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to cut off 1d2) to cut off, destroy 1d3) to cut down, destroy 1d4) to take away 1d5) to permit to perish 1e) (Hophal) cut off

a trustworthy arrangementאֲמָנָ֖ה'a-ma-NAHH0548
sure

אֲמָנָה (a.ma.nah) 1) faith, support, sure, certain 1a) of a covenant 1b) of financial support

and writingוְכֹתְבִ֑יםve-kho-te-VIMH3789
to write

כָּתַב (ka.tav) 1) to write, record, enrol 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to write, inscribe, engrave, write in, write on 1a2) to write down, describe in writing 1a3) to register, enrol, record 1a4) to decree 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be written 1b2) to be written down, be recorded, be enrolled 1c) (Piel) to continue writing Aramaic equivalent: ke.tav (כְּתַב "to write" H3790)

and [are] onוְעַל֙ve-'ALH5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

the sealed [document]הֶֽחָת֔וּםhe-cha-TUMH2856
to seal

חָתַם (cha.tam) 1) to seal, seal up, affix a seal 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to seal, affix one's seal 1a2) to seal up, fasten up by sealing 1b) (Niphal) to seal 1c) (Piel) to lock up 1d) (Hiphil) to be stopped Aramaic equivalent: cha.tam (חֲתַם "to seal" H2857)

leaders ourשָׂרֵ֥ינוּsa-REI-nuH8269
ruler

שַׂר (sar) 1) prince, ruler, leader, chief, chieftain, official, captain 1a) chieftain, leader 1b) vassal, noble, official (under king) 1c) captain, general, commander (military) 1d) chief, head, overseer (of other official classes) 1e) heads, princes (of religious office) 1f) elders (of representative leaders of people) 1g) merchant-princes (of rank and dignity) 1h) patron-angel 1i) Ruler of rulers (of God) 1j) warden

Levites ourלְוִיֵּ֖נוּle-vi-YE-nuH3881
Levi

לֵוִי (le.viy.yi) Someone from the tribe of Levi living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.29.34; son of: Israel (H3478) and Leah (H3812); brother of: Reuben (H7205), Simeon (H8095), Judah (H3063), Issachar (H3485), Zebulun (H2074) and Dinah (H1783); half-brother of: Dan (H1835H), Naphtali (H5321), Gad (H1410), Asher (H0836), Joseph (H3130) and Benjamin (H1144); father of: Gershon (H1648), Kohath (H6955), Merari (H4847) and Jochebed (H3115) Another name of le.vi (לֵוִי "Levi" H3878) § Levite, of Levi "joined to" 1) the descendants of Levi, the 3rd son of Jacob by Leah …

priests ourכֹּהֲנֵֽינוּ׃ko-ha-NEI-nuH3548
priest

כֹּהֵן (ko.hen) 1) priest, principal officer or chief ruler 1a) priest-king (Melchizedek, Messiah) 1b) pagan priests 1c) priests of Jehovah 1d) Levitical priests 1e) Zadokite priests 1f) Aaronic priests 1g) the high priest Aramaic equivalent: ka.hen (כָּהֵן "priest" H3549)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.