THE BOOK OF
NEHEMIAH
Nehemiah 1 ©
Nehemiah (the king’s cupbearer, verse 11) receives tidings at Shushan of the sad condition of his people, as likewise of the walls and gates of Jerusalem, v. 1, etc. And mourns exceedingly about it, fasts, prays and beseeches God for mercy and favor, and especially that He would bless his design, and prosper his request, which he intends to present it to the king, 4.
THE 1words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month 2Chisleu, in the 3twentieth year, as I was in 4Shushan the palace,
That Hanani, one of my 5brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews 6that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the 7province are in great 8affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
¶And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
And said, I beseech thee, Oa LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, thatb keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
Let thine 9ear now be attentive, and thine 10eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee 11now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
We have dealt 12very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the 13commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
Remember, I beseech thee, the wordc that thou 14commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
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 desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and 15grant him mercy in the sight of this 16man. For I was the king's cupbearer.