Nehemiah 9:34

Translations

Modern

Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.

Traditional

Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

Literal

And our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers, they have not done Your law, and they have not attended to Your commandments and to Your testimonies that You testified against them.

Latin

Reges nostri, principes nostri, sacerdotes nostri et patres nostri non fecerunt legem tuam, et non attenderunt mandata tua, et testimonia tua quæ testificatus es in eis.

Original

Hebrew

English

Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.

Notes

Nehemiah 9:32–37

The prayer now addresses the current situation, asking the great God—who has unfailing love—for ongoing love and mercy for his people in their difficult times (Nehemiah 9:32). The leaders acknowledged God's justice in punishing them for their sins (Nehemiah 9:33–35), and they expressed sorrow over their enslavement by the Persians (9:36–37).

Nehemiah 9:5–37

This lengthy prayer admits the nation's sins and praises God for his compassion throughout history (compare Psalms 105–106; 135–136). It encouraged listeners to admit their own unfaithfulness and ask God for compassion and forgiveness.

Nehemiah 7:73–10:39

This section, possibly from Ezra’s personal memoirs, explains how Ezra’s teaching of God’s law renewed the people's commitment to serve God and follow his instructions. Spiritual revival occurred alongside the civic work of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Theme notes and profiles

Community Responsibility: Achan’s Sin God's Word at the Center Nehemiah’s Confidence in God

Related verses

2 Kings 17:13
Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”
Jeremiah 29:19
I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD.”
Deuteronomy 31:21
And when many troubles and afflictions have come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants. For I know their inclination, even before I bring them into the land that I swore to give them.”
Nehemiah 9:30
You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
2 Kings 17:15
They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

Glossary

Book of Nehemiah

Topics

Confession of Sin: Levites Idolatry: Warnings Against, and Punishments of Prayer: Confession In Public Prayer: Jeshua Repentance: Exemplified Rulers: Wicked Sin: Confession of Thankfulness: To God of the Levites

Nehemiah 9:34

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