Nehemiah 9:35-38

9:35 Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible ¹  goodness that you had lavished ²  on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set ³  before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.

9:36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy ⁴  its good things – we are slaves! 9:37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, ⁵  and we are in great distress!

The People Pledge to be Faithful

9:38 (10:1) ⁶  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ⁷  in written form; ⁸  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ⁹  on the sealed document.”

[9:35]  ¹ tn Heb “great.”

[9:35]  ² tn Heb “given them.”

[9:35]  ³ tn Heb “given.”

[9:36]  ⁴ tn The expression “to enjoy” is not included in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to their desire.”

[9:38]  ⁶ sn Beginning with 9:38, the verse numbers through 10:39 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:38 ET = 10:1 HT, 10:1 ET = 10:2 HT, 10:2 ET = 10:3 HT, etc., through 10:39 ET = 10:40 HT. Beginning with 11:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:38]  ⁷ tn Heb “we are cutting.”

[9:38]  ⁸ tn Heb “and writing.”

[9:38]  ⁹ tn Heb “our leaders, our Levites, and our priests on the sealed document.” The Hebrew text is elliptical here; the words “have affixed their names” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons. Cf. v. 2.