Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Nehemiah » Prayerfulness
and said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of the heavens, strong, great and terrible, who keeps covenant and mercy for those that love thee and observe thy commandments; let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open, that thou may hear the prayer of thy slave, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the sons of Israel, thy slaves, and I confess the sins of the sons of Israel, with which we have sinned against thee; both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments, which thou didst command thy slave Moses. read more.
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou didst command thy slave Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples; 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 heavens, yet will I gather them from there and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to cause my name to dwell there. Now these are thy slaves and thy people, whom thou hast ransomed with thy great power and with thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy slave and to the prayer of thy slaves who desire to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy slave this day, and grant him grace before this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou didst command thy slave Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples; 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 heavens, yet will I gather them from there and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to cause my name to dwell there. Now these are thy slaves and thy people, whom thou hast ransomed with thy great power and with thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy slave and to the prayer of thy slaves who desire to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy slave this day, and grant him grace before this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.
Hear, O our God; for we are despised; and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of their captivity. And do not cover their iniquity, nor let their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they have become angry against the builders.
Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God and set a watch over the builders day and night because of them.
Religious zeal » Instances of » Nehemiah
And do not cover their iniquity, nor let their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they have become angry against the builders.
And I came to Jerusalem and understood the evil that Eliashib had done attending Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore; therefore, I cast forth all the household vessels of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers; and I caused the vessels of the house of God to be brought there again, with the present and the frankincense.
In those days I saw in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath and bringing in sheaves and lading asses with wine, grapes, figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I protested unto them the day in which they sold the food. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, who brought fish and all manner of merchandise, and sold on the sabbath to the sons of Judah in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do and profane thus the sabbath day? read more.
Did not your fathers do this, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. And it came to pass, that when shadow came to the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut and charged that they should not be opened until after the sabbath; and I set some of my servants at the gates, that no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified and protested against them and said unto them, Why do ye lodge about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came no more on the sabbath. And I told the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should come and guard the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. In those days I also saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and their sons spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and according to the language of each people; for they could not speak in the Jews' language. And I contended with them and cursed them and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, strange women caused even him to offend. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange women? And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore, I chased him from me.
Did not your fathers do this, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. And it came to pass, that when shadow came to the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut and charged that they should not be opened until after the sabbath; and I set some of my servants at the gates, that no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified and protested against them and said unto them, Why do ye lodge about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came no more on the sabbath. And I told the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should come and guard the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. In those days I also saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and their sons spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and according to the language of each people; for they could not speak in the Jews' language. And I contended with them and cursed them and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, strange women caused even him to offend. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange women? And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore, I chased him from me.
modern Samaria » Inhabitants of » Opposed the jews after their return from captivity
But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth and took great indignation and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Is this to be permitted them? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish on time? Will they resurrect the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which were burned? Now Tobiah, the Ammonite, was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox were to go up it, he would break down their stone wall. read more.
Hear, O our God; for we are despised; and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of their captivity. And do not cover their iniquity, nor let their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they have become angry against the builders. But we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof, for the people were motivated to work. And it came to pass when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were sound and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it. Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God and set a watch over the builders day and night because of them. And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish so that we are not able to build the wall. And our adversaries said, They shall not know or see until we come in the midst among them and slay them and cause the work to cease. But it came to pass, that when the Jews who dwelt among them came, they advised us ten times of all the places from which they would come upon us. Therefore, I set in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I set the people by families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. Then I looked and rose up and said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass when our enemies heard that we had understood it, God brought their counsel to nought, and we returned all of us to the wall, each one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth that half of the young men wrought in the work, and the other half of them held spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail; and the princes were behind all the house of Judah. Those that built on the wall and those that bore burdens and those that laded wrought with one hand in the work and with the other held a weapon. For the builders, each one had his sword girded by his side, and so they built. And he that sounded the shofar was by me.
Hear, O our God; for we are despised; and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of their captivity. And do not cover their iniquity, nor let their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they have become angry against the builders. But we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof, for the people were motivated to work. And it came to pass when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were sound and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it. Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God and set a watch over the builders day and night because of them. And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish so that we are not able to build the wall. And our adversaries said, They shall not know or see until we come in the midst among them and slay them and cause the work to cease. But it came to pass, that when the Jews who dwelt among them came, they advised us ten times of all the places from which they would come upon us. Therefore, I set in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I set the people by families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. Then I looked and rose up and said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass when our enemies heard that we had understood it, God brought their counsel to nought, and we returned all of us to the wall, each one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth that half of the young men wrought in the work, and the other half of them held spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail; and the princes were behind all the house of Judah. Those that built on the wall and those that bore burdens and those that laded wrought with one hand in the work and with the other held a weapon. For the builders, each one had his sword girded by his side, and so they built. And he that sounded the shofar was by me.