¹ The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah.

And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year,

as I was in Shushan the palace,

² That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah;

and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, {which were left of the captivity}, and concerning Jerusalem.

³ And they said unto me,

The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach:

the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down,

and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

⁴ And it came to pass,

when I heard these words,

that I sat down and wept,

and mourned certain days,

and fasted,

and prayed before the God of heaven,

⁵ And said,

I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God,

that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

⁶ Let thine ear now be attentive,

and thine eyes open,

that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant,

which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants,

and confess the sins of the children of Israel,

which we have sinned against thee:

both I and my father's house have sinned.

⁷ We have dealt very corruptly against thee,

and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments,

which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

⁸ Remember, {I beseech thee}, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses,

saying,

If ye transgress,

I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

⁹ But if ye turn unto me,

and keep my commandments,

and do them;

though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven,

yet will I gather them from thence,

and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen

to set my name there.

¹⁰ Now these are thy servants and thy people,

whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

¹¹ O Lord, I beseech thee,

let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants,

who desire to fear thy name:

and prosper, {I pray thee}, thy servant this day,

and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.

For I was the king's cupbearer.

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