Neemias 1

¹ The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the monthWhich contains part of November and part of December, and was their ninth month.Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,The Argument – God, in all ages and at all times, sets up worthy persons for the convenience and profit of his Church, as now within the compass of seventy years he raised up various excellent men for the preservation of his people after their return from Babylon. Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, of which the first was their captain to bring them home, and provided that the temple was built: the second reformed their manners and planted religion: and the third built up the walls, delivered the people from oppression and provided that the law of God was carried out among them. He was a godly man, and in great authority with the king, so that the king favoured him greatly and gave him letters to accomplish all the things he desired. This book is also called the second of Ezra by the Latins because he was the author of it.

² That Hanani, one of myA Jew as I was.brethren, came, he and [certain] men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

³ And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in theMeaning in Judea.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 when I heard these wordes, I sate downe and wept, and mourned certeine dayes, & I fasted and prayed before the God of heauen,

⁵ And sayde, O Lorde God of heauen, the great and terrible God, that keepeth couenant and mercy for them that loue him, and obserue his commandements,

⁶ I pray thee, let thine eares be attet, & thine eies open, to heare the praier of thy seruat, which I pray before thee dayly, day & night for ye childre of Israel thy seruats, & confesse the sinnes of the children of Israel, which we haue sinned against thee, both I and my fathers house haue sinned:

⁷ We haue grieuously sinned against thee, and haue not kept the commandements, nor the statutes, nor the iudgements, which thou commandedst thy seruant Moses.

⁸ I beseeche thee, remember the worde that thou commandedst thy seruant Moses, saying, Ye wil transgresse, and I will scatter you abroade among the people.

⁹ But if ye turne vnto me, & keepe my commandements, and doe them, though your scattering were to the vttermost part of the heauen, yet will I gather you from thence, and will bring you vnto the place that I haue chosen to place my Name there.

¹⁰ Now these are thy seruants and thy people, whome thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy mightie 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 desire toThat is, to worship you.fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight ofThat is, the king Artaxerxes.this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.