Atlas Biblica

    Nehemiah · 38 verses

    Nehemiah 9

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    For forty years in the wilderness, Israel had bread, water, unworn clothes—and feet that did not swell. It is a wonderfully homely detail in the middle of a history of seas, pillars, kingdoms, and terrible blasphemies.

    A quarter of the dayvv. 1–5

    On the twenty-fourth day, the Israelites gathered fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from the foreigners, then stood to confess the sins of themselves and their fathers. The day had its timetable: a quarter spent reading the Law, another quarter in confession and worship. The Levites stood on the raised platform and cried out; the first list includes Bani twice, with no explanation whether this means two men or one name making a return visit. Then another Levite list invited the assembly to stand and bless the LORD.

    A history of provision and rebellionvv. 6–31

    The Levites’ confession moved from creation to Abraham: the LORD chose Abraham, brought him out of Ur, and promised his descendants the land of Canaan. In Egypt, the LORD saw the affliction of their fathers, heard their cry at the Red Sea, and acted against Pharaoh and his people. The sea divided, the pursuers sank, and cloud and fire led the way. At Sinai came ordinances, laws, statutes, commandments, Sabbath, bread from heaven, and water from the rock. Then came the familiar astonishing rhythm: arrogance, disobedience, a calf, blasphemies, compassion, guidance, manna, water, and forty years in which even feet did not swell. The people received kingdoms and fertile land, then rebelled again, killing the prophets who urged them back. Enemies oppressed them; deliverers rescued them; rest arrived; evil resumed. Through the whole long seesaw, the LORD heard, delivered, admonished, waited, and did not put an end to them.

    Here we are as slavesvv. 32–38

    The prayer turned from the long account of their fathers to the people standing there now. From the days of the kings of Assyria until that day, hardship had come upon kings, leaders, priests, prophets, ancestors, and all the people. The verdict was plain: the LORD had acted faithfully, while they had acted wickedly. Even in a kingdom full of goodness, in a spacious and fertile land, their fathers would not serve Him. Now the descendants were slaves in the land given to their fathers, while its harvest went to the kings set over them. The assembly answered the whole history with a binding agreement, written and sealed with the names of its leaders, Levites, and priests.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Neh 9:1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.

    2. Neh 9:2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

    3. Neh 9:3While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

    4. Neh 9:4And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.

    5. Neh 9:5Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

    6. Neh 9:6You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest 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 things, and the host of heaven worships You.

    7. Neh 9:7You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

    8. Neh 9:8You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.

    9. Neh 9:9You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea.

    10. Neh 9:10You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.

    11. Neh 9:11You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.

    12. Neh 9:12You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.

    13. Neh 9:13You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

    14. Neh 9:14You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses.

    15. Neh 9:15In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land that You had sworn to give them.

    16. Neh 9:16But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

    17. Neh 9:17They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

    18. Neh 9:18Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,

    19. Neh 9:19You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

    20. Neh 9:20You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

    21. Neh 9:21For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

    22. Neh 9:22You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.

    23. Neh 9:23You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

    24. Neh 9:24So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished.

    25. Neh 9:25They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.

    26. Neh 9:26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

    27. Neh 9:27So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.

    28. Neh 9:28But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion.

    29. Neh 9:29You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

    30. Neh 9:30You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.

    31. Neh 9:31But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

    32. Neh 9:32So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

    33. Neh 9:33You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

    34. Neh 9:34Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.

    35. Neh 9:35For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.

    36. Neh 9:36So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves!

    37. Neh 9:37Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.

    38. Neh 9:38In 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.”

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 587 passages were voted onto 38 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 6Isaiah 37:16“O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
    • 6Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
    • 6Revelation 4:11“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and were created.”
    • 6Deuteronomy 10:14Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
    • 6Deuteronomy 6:4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
    • 17Psalms 86:5For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
    • 21Deuteronomy 2:7Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.
    • 2Nehemiah 13:3As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent.
    • 17Joel 2:13So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
    • 20Psalms 143:10Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
    • 2Ezra 10:11Now, therefore, make a confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”
    • 2Daniel 9:3–10So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
    • 62 Kings 19:15And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
    • 6Jeremiah 10:11–12Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
    • 6Genesis 2:1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
    • 261 Kings 14:9You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.

    Onward

    Keep reading

    Next chapterNehemiah 1039 verses.Named hereLeviEverything the graph connects to this name.BookNehemiahAll 13 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.