Ezekiel 20:5-26, Nehemiah 9:4-38 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

Ezekiel 20:5-26

5 and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “On the day when I ^achose Israel and ¹swore to the seed of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, ^bI am Yahweh your God, 6 on that day I swore to them, ^ato bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had ¹selected for them, ^bflowing with milk and honey, which is ^cthe glory of all lands. 7 I said to them, ‘^aCast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and ^bdo not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; ^cI am Yahweh your God.’ 8 But they ^arebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; each one did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the ^bidols of Egypt.
Then I said I would ^cpour out My wrath on them, to ¹spend My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I acted ^afor the sake of My name, that it should ^bnot be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the ^awilderness. 11 I gave them My ^astatutes and made them know My judgments, ^bwhich, if a man does them, he will live by them. 12 And I also gave them My sabbaths to be a ^asign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. 13 But the house of Israel ^arebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes, and they rejected My judgments, ^bwhich, if a man does them, he will live by them; and My ^csabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would ^dpour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to completely destroy them. 14 But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Also ^aI swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, 16 because they rejected My judgments, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their ^aheart continually walked after their idols. 17 Yet My eye had pity on them rather than bringing them to ruin, and I did not make of them a ^acomplete destruction in the wilderness.
18 “I said to their ¹^achildren in the wilderness, ‘^bDo not walk in the statutes of your fathers and do not keep their judgments and do not defile yourselves with their idols. 19 ^aI am Yahweh your God; ^bwalk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them. 20 ^aKeep My sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.’ 21 But the ^achildren rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to do My judgments, which, if a man does them, he will live by them; they profaned My sabbaths. So I said I would pour out My wrath on them, to spend My anger against them in the wilderness. 22 But I ^aturned back My hand and acted ^bfor the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would ^ascatter them among the nations and ¹disperse them among the lands 24 because they had not done My judgments, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and ^atheir eyes were going after the idols of their fathers. 25 And I also gave them statutes that were ^anot good and judgments by which they could not live; 26 and I pronounced them ^aunclean because of their gifts, in that they ^bcaused all ¹their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might ^cknow that I am Yahweh.”’

Nehemiah 9:4-38

4 ^aThen Jeshua rose up on the Levites’ platform, along with Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God.
5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Rise up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting!

O may Your glorious name be blessed

And exalted above all blessing and praise!

^aYou alone are Yahweh.

^bYou have made the heavens,

The heaven of heavens with all their host,

The earth and all that is on it,

The seas and all that is in them.

^cYou give life to all of them

And the heavenly host bows down to You.

You are Yahweh God,

^aWho chose Abram

And brought him out from ^bUr of the Chaldees,

And ^cgave him the name Abraham.

You found ^ahis heart faithful before You,

And cut a covenant with him

To give him the land of the Canaanite,

Of the Hittite and the Amorite,

Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—

To give it to his seed.

And You ^bhave established Your promise,

For You are righteous.

“^aYou saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,

And ^bheard their cry by the ¹Red Sea.

Then You performed ^asigns and wonders against Pharaoh,

Against all his servants and all the people of his land;

For You knew that ^bthey acted presumptuously toward them,

And ^cmade a name for Yourself as it is this day.

^aYou split the sea before them,

So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;

And ^btheir pursuers You cast into the depths,

Like a stone into mighty waters.

And with a pillar of cloud ^aYou led them by day,

And with a pillar of fire by night

To light for them the way

In which they were to go.

Then ^aYou came down on Mount Sinai,

And ^bspoke with them from heaven;

You gave them ^cupright judgments and true laws,

Good statutes and commandments.

So You made known to them ^aYour holy sabbath,

And commanded to them commandments, statutes and law,

By the hand of Your servant Moses.

You ^agave bread from heaven for them for their hunger,

You ^bbrought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,

And You ^csaid to them to enter in order to possess

The land which You ¹swore to give them.

“But they, our fathers, ^aacted presumptuously;

They ¹^bbecame stiff‑necked and would not listen to Your commandments.

They refused to listen,

And ^adid not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them;

So they became stiff‑necked and ^bgave themselves a chief to return to their slavery ¹in Egypt.

But You are a God ^cof lavish forgiveness,

Gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;

And You did not forsake them.

Even when they ^amade for themselves

A molten calf

And said, ‘This is your God

Who brought you up from Egypt,’

And ¹committed great ²blasphemies,

^aBut You, in Your abundant compassion,

Did not forsake them in the wilderness;

^bThe pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day,

To lead them on their way,

Nor the pillar of fire by night,

To light for them the way in which they were to go.

^aYou gave Your good Spirit to give them insight,

Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,

And You gave them water for their thirst.

Indeed, ^aforty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they did not lack;

Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.

You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,

And apportioned them to them as a ¹boundary.

^aThey took possession of the land of Sihon ²the king of Heshbon

And the land of Og the king of Bashan.

You made their sons numerous as ^athe stars of heaven,

And You brought them into the land

Which You had said for their fathers to enter and possess.

^aSo their sons entered and possessed the land.

And ^bYou subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,

And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,

To do with them according to their desire.

^aThey captured fortified cities and a ¹^brich ²land.

They took possession of ^chouses full of every good thing,

Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,

Trees for food in abundance.

So they ate, were filled, and ^dgrew fat,

And ^ereveled in Your great goodness.

“^aBut they became disobedient and rebelled against You,

And ^bcast Your law behind their backs

And ^ckilled Your prophets who had ^dtestified to them

So that they might return to You,

And ^ethey ¹committed great ²blasphemies.

Therefore You ^agave them into the hand of the ones who distressed them, and they afflicted them with distress,

But ^bat the time of their distress they cried to You,

And You listened from heaven, and according to Your abundant compassion

You ^cgave them saviors and they saved them from the hand of the ones that distressed them.

But ^aas soon as they had rest, they returned to do evil before You;

Therefore You forsook them in the hand of their enemies, so they had dominion over them.

Then they returned and cried to You. And You listened from heaven,

And ^bmany times You delivered them according to Your compassion,

And ^atestified to them in order to turn them back to Your law.

Yet ^bthey acted presumptuously and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your judgments,

By ^cwhich if a man does them, he shall live.

And they ^dgave a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

^aHowever, You bore with them for many years,

And ^btestified to them by ^cYour Spirit by the hand of Your prophets,

Yet they would not give ear.

So You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Nevertheless, in Your abundant compassion You ^adid not make a complete destruction of them or forsake them,

For You are ^ba gracious and compassionate God.

“So now, our God, ^athe great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,

Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,

Which has found us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all Your people,

^bFrom the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

However, ^aYou are righteous in all that has come upon us;

For You have dealt in truth, but we have acted wickedly.

Now our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers did not do Your law

Or pay attention to Your commandments and Your testimonies with which You testified against them.

But ^athey, in their own kingdom,

^bWith Your abundant goodness which You gave them,

With the broad and rich land which You set before them,

Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.

Behold, ^awe are slaves today,

And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its goodness,

Behold, we are slaves in it.

^aIts abundant produce is for the kings

Whom You have put over us because of our sins;

They also rule over our bodies

And over our cattle according to their desire,

So we are in great distress.

An Agreement Is Cut

“¹Now because of all this

^aWe are cutting an agreement in writing;

And on the ^bsealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.”