Chapter 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,

That Hanani, one of my brethren, came,⁴ he and [certain] men of Judah; and I asked⁴ them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left⁸ of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

And they said⁴ unto me, The remnant¹² that are left⁸ of the captivity there in the province [are] in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also [is] broken down,³⁰ and the gates thereof are burned⁸ with fire.

And it came to pass, when I heard² these words, that I sat down¹ and wept,⁴ and mourned¹⁰¹ [certain] days, and fasted,⁶ and prayed¹⁰² before the God of heaven,

And said,⁴ I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible¹² God, that keepeth⁶ covenant and mercy for them that love⁶ him and observe⁶ his commandments:

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open,⁷ that thou mayest hear² the prayer of thy servant, which I pray¹⁰² before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess¹⁰² the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned¹ against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.¹

We have dealt very² corruptly¹ against thee, and have not kept¹ the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst¹⁴ thy servant Moses.

Remember,³ I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst¹⁴ thy servant Moses, saying,² [If] ye transgress,⁴ I will scatter⁵⁵ you abroad among the nations:

But [if] ye turn¹ unto me, and keep¹ my commandments, and do¹ them; though there were of you cast out¹² unto the uttermost part of the heaven, [yet] will I gather¹⁷ them from thence, and will bring⁵² them unto the place that I have chosen¹ to set¹⁵ my name there.

Now these [are] thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed¹ by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

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 fear² thy name: and prosper,⁵⁴ I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant³ him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.⁵⁶