Nehemiah 1:4

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, ¹  crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 1:11

1:11 Please, ²  O Lord, listen attentively ³  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ⁴  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁵  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁶  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah 1:2

1:2 Hanani, who was one of my relatives, ⁷  along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, ⁸  and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. ⁹ 

Nehemiah 1:1

A Prayer of Nehemiah

1:1 ¹⁰ These are the words of Nehemiah ¹¹  son of Hacaliah:

It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, ¹²  I was in Susa ¹³  the citadel.

Proverbs 3:6

3:6 Acknowledge ¹⁴  him in all your ways, ¹⁵ 

and he will make your paths straight. ¹⁶ 

Philippians 4:6

4:6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God.

¹ tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.

² tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

³ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

⁴ tn Heb “fear.”

⁵ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

⁶ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

⁷ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “to me”; these words were supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁰ sn In ancient Judaism Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as a single book with dual authorship. According to the Talmud, “Ezra wrote his book” (b. Bava Batra 15a). The Gemara then asks and answers, “And who finished it? Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.” Accordingly, the two are joined in the Leningrad Codex (ca. A.D. 1008), the manuscript upon which modern printed editions of the Hebrew Bible (e.g., BHK and BHS) are based.

¹¹ sn The name Nehemiah in Hebrew (נְחֶמְיָה, nÿkhemyah) means “the LORD comforts.”

¹² tn That is, the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign (cf. 2:1).

¹³ tn Heb “Shushan.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the Lord in every event and relies on him. To acknowledge the Lord in every event means trusting and obeying him for guidance in right conduct.

¹⁵ tn The term דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is figurative (hypocatastasis: implied comparison) referring to a person’s course of life, actions and undertakings (Prov 2:8; 3:6, 23; 11:5; 20:24; 29:27; 31:3; BDB 203 s.v. 5; cf. TEV “in everything you do”; NCV, NLT “in all you do”). This is a call for total commitment in trust for obedience in all things.

¹⁶ tn The verb יָשָׁר (yashar) means “to make smooth; to make straight” (BDB 444 s.v.). This phrase means “to make the way free from obstacles,” that is, to make it successful (e.g., Isa 40:3). The straight, even road is the right road; God will make the way smooth for the believer.