far from another. In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us. So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one MAY 27. with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing. Morning, NEHemiah V. ND there was a great ery of against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live. Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be serants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these Words. Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer. Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies? I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray MAY 27. day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them. Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise. Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise. Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God. Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work. Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us. Now that which was prepared | this required not I the bread of the for me daily was one ox and six governor, because the bondage was choice sheep; also fowls were pre- heavy upon this people. Think upon pared for me, and once in ten days me, my God, for good, according to store of all sorts of wine: yet for all all that I have done for this people. MAY 27. Ebening, NEHEMIAH VI. TOW it came to pass, when San MAY 27. and he said, Let us meet together in Noallat, cand Tobal, and Greshem the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Therefore was he hired. that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, think Thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear. the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu So the wall was finished in the saith it, that thou and the Jews twenty and fifth day of the month think to rebel: for which cause thou Elul, in fifty and two days. And it buildest the wall, that thou mayest came to pass, that when all our ene be their king, according to these mies heard thereof, and all the heawords. And thou hast also appoint- then that were about us saw thest ed prophets to preach of thee at Je- things, they were much cast down rusalem, saying, There is a king in in their own eyes: for they perceir Judah: and now shall it be reported ed that this work was wrought of to the king according to these words. our God. Moreover in those days Come now therefore, and let us take the nobles of Judah sent many let counsel together. Then I sent unto ters unto Tobiah, and the letters of him, saying, There are no such things Tobiah came unto them. For there done as thou sayest, but thou feign- were many in Judah sworn uste est them out of thine own heart. For him, because he was the son in la they all made us afraid, saying, Their of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and hands shall be weakened from the his son Johanan had taken the daugh work, that it be not done. Now there-ter of Meshullam the son of Bere fore, O God, strengthen my hands. Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; chiah. Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent let ters to put me in fear. MAY 28. Morning, NEHEMIAH VIII. MAY 28. AND all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and law. And they found written in the Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and law which the LORD had commandHilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his righted by Moses, that the children of hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, Israel should dwell in booths in the and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Ha-feast of the seventh month: and that shum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, they should publish and proclaim in and Meshullam. And Ezra open- all their cities, and in Jerusalem, ed the book in the sight of all the saying, Go forth unto the mount, people; (for he was above all the and fetch olive branches, and pine people) and when he opened it, branches, and myrtle branches, and all the people stood up: and Ezra palm branches, and branches of thick blessed the LORD, the great God. trees, to make booths, as it is writAnd all the people answered, Amen, ten. So the people went forth, and Amen, with lifting up their hands: brought them, and made themselves and they bowed their heads, and wor- booths, every one upon the roof of shipped the LORD with their faces his house, and in their courts, and to the ground. Also Jeshua, and in the courts of the house of God, Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, and in the street of the water gate, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Ke- and in the street of the gate of Ephlita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pe- raim. And all the congregation of laiah, and the Levites, caused the them that were come again out of people to understand the law: and the captivity made booths, and sat the people stood in their place. So under the booths: for since the days they read in the book in the law of of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that God distinctly, and gave the sense, day had not the children of Israel and caused them to understand the done so. And there was very great reading. And Nehemiah, which is the gladness. Also day by day, from the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the first day unto the last day, he read scribe, and the Levites that taught in the book of the law of God. And the people, said unto all the people, they kept the feast seven days; and This day is holy unto the LORD your on the eighth day was a solemn asGod; mourn not, nor weep. For all sembly, according unto the manner. the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the MAY 28. Na Ebening, NEHEMIAH IX. WOW in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And 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. Then 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. Then 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. Thou, 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. Thou 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; and 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: and didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea; and shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of land: for Thou knewest that alt proudly against them. So get Thee a name, as it is MAY 28. this day. And Thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors Thon threwest into the deeps, as a stone, into the mighty waters. Moreover 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. Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: and madest known unto them Thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses Thy servant: and 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. But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened, not to Thy commandments, and re fused to obey, neither were mindful of Thy wonders that Thou didst a mong them; but hardened their necks and in their rebellion appointed 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 forsooke them not. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said. This is thy God That brought thee up o of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; yet Thou in Thy ma nifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; ther the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way where in they should go. Thou gavest als Thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst Thou sustain them in the wil derness, so that they lacked nothing; | 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. Yet 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. Nevertheless for Thy great mercies' sake Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art a gracious and merciful God. Now 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. Howbeit Thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept Thy law, nor hearkened unto Thy commandments and Thy testimonies, where with Thou didst testify against them. For 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. Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that Thou gavest unto their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. Moreover 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. Their children also multipliedst Thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which Thou hadst proraised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. So 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. And 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. Nevertheless 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. Therefore Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their nemies, 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. But after they had rest, they did evil gain 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 didet Thou deliver them according to Thy mercies; and testifiedst against them, that Thou mightest bring them again unto Thy law: yet they dealt our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it and 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. And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it. |