God

`Let, we pray thee, our heads of all the assembly stand, and all who are in our cities, who have settled strange wives, do come in at the times appointed, and with them the elders of city and city, and its judges, till the turning back of the fury of the wrath of our God from us, for this thing.'

And it cometh to pass, at my hearing these words, I have sat down, and I weep and mourn for days, and I am fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.

And I say, `I beseech thee, O Jehovah, God of the heavens, God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and kindness for those loving Him, and for those keeping His commands,

let Thine ear be, I pray Thee, attentive, and Thine eyes open, to hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, that I am praying before Thee to-day, by day and by night, concerning the sons of Israel Thy servants, and confessing concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, that we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and the house of my father have sinned;

we have acted very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commands, and the statutes, and the judgments, that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant.

`Remember, I pray Thee, the word that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant, saying, Ye--ye trespass--I scatter you among peoples;

and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them--if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there.

And they are Thy servants, and Thy people, whom Thou hast ransomed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.

`I beseech Thee, O Lord, let, I pray Thee, Thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto the prayer of Thy servants, those delighting to fear Thy Name; and give prosperity, I pray Thee, to Thy servant to-day, and give him for mercies before this man;' and I have been butler to the king.

And the king saith to me, `For what art thou seeking?' and I pray unto the God of the heavens,

and a letter unto Asaph, keeper of the paradise that the king hath, that he give to me trees for beams for the gates of the palace that the house hath, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I enter;' and the king giveth to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding.

And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, `Let us rise, and we have built;' and they strengthen their hands for good.

And I return them word, and say to them, `The God of the heavens--He doth give prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.'

and by his hand have the Tekoites strengthened, and their honourable ones have not brought in their neck to the service of their Lord.

Hear, O our God, for we have been despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, and give them for a spoil in a land of captivity;

And we pray unto our God, and appoint a watch against them, by day and by night, because of them.

And I see, and rise up, and say unto the freemen, and unto the prefects, and unto the rest of the people, `Be not afraid of them; the Lord, the great and the fearful, remember ye, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.'

And it cometh to pass, when our enemies have heard that it hath been known to us, and God doth frustrate their counsel, and we turn back, all of us, unto the wall, each unto his work;

in the place that ye hear the voice of the trumpet thither ye are gathered unto us; our God doth fight for us.'

And I say, `Not good is the thing that ye are doing; in the fear of our God do ye not walk, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?

also, my lap I have shaken, and I say, `Thus doth God shake out every man, who doth not perform this thing, from his house, and from his labour; yea, thus is he shaken out and empty;' and all the assembly say, `Amen,' and praise Jehovah; and the people do according to this thing.

the former governors who are before me have made themselves heavy on the people, and take of them in bread and wine, besides in silver forty shekels; also, their servants have ruled over the people--and I have not done so, because of the fear of God.

Remember for me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.

for all of them are making us afraid, saying, `Their hands are too feeble for the work, and it is not done;' and now, strengthen Thou my hands.