Nehemiah 1
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah.
And it came to pass in the month Chisleu,
in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
2 That Hanani, one of my 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 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 fasted,
and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven,
the great and terrible God,
that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open,
that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant,
which I pray before thee now, 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.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes,
nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying,
If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 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.
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 desire to fear thy name:
and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day,
and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.
For I was the king’s cupbearer.
