1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of athis month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, band with dust on their heads.
2 Then athose of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and bconfessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
3 And they stood up in their place and aread from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God forone–fourth of the day; and foranother fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: “Stand up and bless the Lord your God Forever and ever! “Blessed be aYour glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
6aYou alone are the Lord; bYou have made heaven, cThe heaven of heavens, with dall their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You epreserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.
7 “You are the Lord God, Who chose aAbram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name bAbraham;
8 You found his heart afaithful before You, And made a bcovenant with him To give the land of the Canaanites, The Hittites, the Amorites, The Perizzites, the Jebusites, And the Girgashites— To give it to his descendants. You chave performed Your words, For You are righteous.
9 “Youa saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And bheard their cry by the Red Sea.
10 You ashowed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants, And against all the people of his land. For You knew that they bacted proudly against them. So You cmade a name for Yourself, as itis this day.
11aAnd You divided the sea before them, So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; And their persecutors You threw into the deep, bAs a stone into the mighty waters.
12 Moreover You aled them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel.
13 “Youa came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them bjust ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.
14 You made known to them Your aholy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant.
15 You agave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And bbrought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to cgo in to possess the land Which You had1 sworn to give them.
16 “Buta they and our fathers acted proudly, bHardened1 their necks, And did not heed Your commandments.
17 They refused to obey, And1athey were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed ba leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, cGracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.
18 “Even awhen they made a molded calf for themselves, And said, ‘This is your god That brought you up out of Egypt,’ And worked great provocations,
19 Yet in Your amanifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness. The bpillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, To lead them on the road; Nor the pillar of fire by night, To show them light, And the way they should go.
20 You also gave Your agood Spirit to instruct them, And did not withhold Your bmanna from their mouth, And gave them cwater for their thirst.
21aForty years You sustained them in the wilderness; They lacked nothing; Their bclothes did not wear out And their feet did not swell.
22 “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations, And divided them into1 districts. So they took possession of the land of aSihon, 1The land of the king of Heshbon, And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23 You also multiplied atheir children as the stars of heaven, And brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers To go in and possess.
24 So athe people went in And possessed the land; bYou subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, The Canaanites, And gave them into their hands, With their kings And the people of the land, That they might do with them as they wished.
25 And1 they took strong cities and a arich land, And possessed bhouses full of all goods, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and cgrew fat, And delighted themselves in Your great dgoodness.
26 “Nevertheless they awere disobedient And rebelled against You, bCast Your law behind their backs And killed Your cprophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations.
27aTherefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, Who oppressed them; And in the time of their trouble, When they cried to You, You bheard from heaven; And according to Your abundant mercies cYou gave them deliverers who saved them From the hand of their enemies.
28 “But after they had rest, aThey again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, So that they had dominion over them; Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; And bmany times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And1 testified against them, That You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted1 proudly, And did not heed Your commandments, But sinned against Your judgments, a‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’ And they shrugged their shoulders, 1Stiffened their necks, And would not hear.
30 Yet for many years You had patience with them, And1 testified aagainst them by Your Spirit bin Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; cTherefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy aYou did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; For You are God, gracious and merciful.
32 “Now therefore, our God, The great, the amighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant and mercy: Do not let all the1 trouble seem small before You That has come upon us, Our kings and our princes, Our priests and our prophets, Our fathers and on all Your people, bFrom the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33 However aYou are just in all that has befallen us; For You have dealt faithfully, But bwe have done wickedly.
34 Neither our kings nor our princes, Our priests nor our fathers, Have kept Your law, Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, With which You testified against them.
35 For they have anot served You in their kingdom, Or in the many good things that You gave them, Or in the large and rich land which You set before them; Nor did they turn from their wicked works.
36 “Here awe are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, To eat its fruit and its bounty, Here we are, servants in it!
37 And ait yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have bdominion over our bodies and our cattle At their pleasure; And we are in great distress.
38 “And because of all this, We amake a sure covenant and write it; Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests bseal it.”
The twenty-fourth day of the seventh month is two days after the Last Great Day! They are still there en masse!
What are they doing immediately after the Feast? They are fasting and repenting as a group, together! What an impressive example for us end-time believers! What might God do for us, for the church, for the world even, if His called people would humble themselves and fast and pray and seek Him after hearing His words at His Feast?
Notice what God tells Solomon in II Chronicles 7:14: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." This is exactly what the Jews under Nehemiah were doing.
But it does not end there. These children of Israel now do something about what they have heard all feast long. And what they do is in many respects far harder than overcoming some of the problems that face us!
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