'Us' in the Bible

But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this,

shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?

So now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

Let our leaders represent the whole assembly and let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.”

Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.”

I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

So I answered them and said to them, “The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,”

When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.”

So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.

For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.”

I said to them, “We according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?” Then they were silent and could not find a word to say.

And likewise I, my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury.

Moreover, there were at my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.

then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.

You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together.”

For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, “They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.”

When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

“However, You are just in all that has come upon us;For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.

“Its abundant produce is for the kingsWhom You have set over us because of our sins;They also rule over our bodiesAnd over our cattle as they please,So we are in great distress.

Did not your fathers do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath.”

“There is no umpire between us,Who may lay his hand upon us both.

“Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,Older than your father.

“They say to God, ‘Depart from us!We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

“They said to God, ‘Depart from us!’And ‘What can the Almighty do to them?’

“Did not He who made me in the womb make him,And the same one fashion us in the womb?

“Let us choose for ourselves what is right;Let us know among ourselves what is good.

‘For he adds rebellion to his sin;He claps his hands among us,And multiplies his words against God.’”

Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earthAnd makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

“Teach us what we shall say to Him;We cannot arrange our case because of darkness.

“Let us tear their fetters apartAnd cast away their cords from us!”

Many are saying, “Who will show us any good?”Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O Lord!

Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”

They have now surrounded us in our steps;They set their eyes to cast us down to the ground.

Save, O Lord;May the King answer us in the day we call.

Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,According as we have hoped in You.

O magnify the Lord with me,And let us exalt His name together.

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,And Your thoughts toward us;There is none to compare with You.If I would declare and speak of them,They would be too numerous to count.

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.O God, we have heard with our ears,Our fathers have told usThe work that You did in their days,In the days of old.

Through You we will push back our adversaries;Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.

But You have saved us from our adversaries,And You have put to shame those who hate us.

Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,And do not go out with our armies.

You cause us to turn back from the adversary;And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

You give us as sheep to be eatenAnd have scattered us among the nations.

You make us a reproach to our neighbors,A scoffing and a derision to those around us.

You make us a byword among the nations,A laughingstock among the peoples.

All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You,And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.

Yet You have crushed us in a place of jackalsAnd covered us with the shadow of death.

Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord?Awake, do not reject us forever.

Rise up, be our help,And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.

The Lord of hosts is with us;The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

The Lord of hosts is with us;The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

He subdues peoples under usAnd nations under our feet.

He chooses our inheritance for us,The glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.

For such is God,Our God forever and ever;He will guide us until death.

For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”Save me, O God, by Your name,And vindicate me by Your power.

For the choir director; according to Shushan Eduth. A Mikhtam of David, to teach; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.O God, You have rejected us. You have broken us;You have been angry; O, restore us.

You have made Your people experience hardship;You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger.

That Your beloved may be delivered,Save with Your right hand, and answer us!

Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us?And will You not go forth with our armies, O God?

O give us help against the adversary,For deliverance by man is in vain.

Trust in Him at all times, O people;Pour out your heart before Him;God is a refuge for us. Selah.

By awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation,You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea;

He turned the sea into dry land;They passed through the river on foot;There let us rejoice in Him!

Who keeps us in lifeAnd does not allow our feet to slip.

For You have tried us, O God;You have refined us as silver is refined.

You brought us into the net;You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.

You made men ride over our heads;We went through fire and through water,Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.

For the choir director; with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.God be gracious to us and bless us,And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah.

The earth has yielded its produce;God, our God, blesses us.

God blesses us,That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

God is to us a God of deliverances;And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.

A Maskil of Asaph.O God, why have You rejected us forever?Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

We do not see our signs;There is no longer any prophet,Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have told us.

We have become a reproach to our neighbors,A scoffing and derision to those around us.

Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us;Let Your compassion come quickly to meet us,For we are brought very low.

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake.

Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your powerAnd come to save us!

O God, restore usAnd cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

You make us an object of contention to our neighbors,And our enemies laugh among themselves.

O God of hosts, restore usAnd cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

Then we shall not turn back from You;Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.

O Lord God of hosts, restore us;Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation,That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

Who said, “Let us possess for ourselvesThe pastures of God.”

Restore us, O God of our salvation,And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.

Will You be angry with us forever?Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?

Will You not Yourself revive us again,That Your people may rejoice in You?

Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord,And grant us Your salvation.

So teach us to number our days,That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.