Nehemiah 9:5

9:5 The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God!”

“May you be blessed, O LORD our God, from age to age. ¹  May your glorious name ²  be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise.

Nehemiah 2:3

2:3 I replied to the king, “O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors ³  lies desolate and its gates destroyed ⁴  by fire?”

Nehemiah 13:1

Further Reforms by Nehemiah

13:1 On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing ⁵  of the people. They found ⁶  written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God,

¹ tc The MT reads here only “from age to age,” without the preceding words “May you be blessed, O LORD our God” which are included in the present translation. But apparently something has dropped out of the text. This phrase occurs elsewhere in the OT as a description of the Lord (see Ps 41:13; 106:48), and it seems best to understand it here in that light. The LXX adds “And Ezra said” at the beginning of v. 6 as a transition: “And Ezra said, ‘You alone are the LORD.” Without this addition (which is not included by most modern English translations) the speakers of vv. 9:5b-10:1 continue to be the Levites of v. 5a.

² tn Heb “the name of your glory.”

³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 5).

⁴ tn Heb “devoured” or “eaten” (so also in Neh 2:13).

⁵ tn Heb “ears.”

⁶ tn Heb “it was found.” The Hebrew verb is passive.