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we remain yet efcaped, as it is this Day: behold, we are before thee in our TRESPASSES: for we cannot STAND before thee, because of this.

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1 Shechaniah encourageth Ezra to reform the ftrange Marriage. 6 Ezra Mourning affembleth the People. 9 The People at the Exhortation of Ezra, repent and promife Amendment. 15 Their Care to perform it. 18 The Names of them which had married ftrange Wives.

Ver. 1

NOW

'OW when Ezra had prayed, and when he had CONFESSED, WEEPING and cafting himself down before the Houfe of GoD, there affembled unto him out of Ifrael a very great Congregation of Men, and Women, and Children: for the People wept very fore.

2 And Shechaniah one of the Sons of Elam, answered and faid unto Ezra, We have trefpaffed against our God, and have taken ftrange Wives, of the People of the Land: yet now there is HOPE in Ifrael concerning this Thing.

3 Now therefore let us make a COVENANT with our GOD, to put away all the Wives, and fuch as are born of them, according to the Counfel of my LORD, and of those that TREMBLE at the COMMANDMENT of our GOD, and let it be done according to the LAW.

4 Arife: for this Matter belongeth unto thee; we also will be with thee: be of good Courage, and do it.

5 Then arofe Ezra, and made the chief Priefts, the Levites, and all Ifrael to fwear, that they should do according to this Word: and they fware.

6 Then Ezra rofe up from before the House of GoD, and went into the Chamber of Johanan the Son of Eliafhib: and when he came thither, he did eat no Bread, nor drink Water: for he MOURNED because of the TRANSGRESSION of them that had been carried away.

7 And they made Proclamation throughout Judah and Jerufalem, unto all the Children of the Captivity, that they fhould gather themfelves together unto Jerufalem.

8 And that whofoever would not come within three Days, all his Subftance fhould be forfeited, and himfelf feparated from the Congregation.

9 Then all the Men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themfelves

themselves together unto Jerufalem, and all the People fat in the Street of the Houfe of GOD, TREMBLING because of this Matter. and for the GREAT RAIN.

10 And Ezra the Priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have tranfgreffed, and have taken strange Wives, to encrease the Trefpafs of Ifrael.

II Now therefore make CONFESSION unto the LORD GOD of your Fathers, and Do his PLEASURE: and feparate your felves from the People of the Land, and from the ftrange Wives.

12 Then all the Congregation answered, and faid with a loud Voice, as thou haft faid, fo muft we do.

13 But the People are many, and it is Time of much Rain, and we are not able to ftand without, neither is this a Work of one Day or two: for we are many that have tranfgreffed in this Thing.

14 Let now our Rulers of all the Congregation ftand, and let all them which have taken strange Wives in our Cities, come at appointed Times, and with them the Elders of every City, and the Judges thereof, until the fierce Wrath of our GOD for this Matter, be turned from us.

15 Only Jonathan the Son of Afahel, and Jahaziah the Son of Tikvah, were employed about this Matter: and Mefhullam, and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

16 And the Children of the Captivity did fo: and Ezra the Priest, with certain chief of the Fathers, and all of them by their Names, were feparated, and fat down in the firft Day of the tenth Month to examine the Matter.

17 And they made an End with all the Men that had taken strange Wives, by the first Day of the first Month.

AN

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1 Nehemiah understanding by Hanani, the Mifery of Jerufalem mourneth, fafteth and prayeth. 5 His Prayer.

Ver. 1

T

HE Words of Nehemiah the Son of Ha-
chaliah. And it came to pass in the
Month Chifleu, in the twentieth Year, as
I was in Shufhan the Palace.

2 That Hanani one of my Brethren, came, he and certain Men of Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews that had ESCAPED, which were left of the Captivity, and concerning Jerufalem.

3 And they faid unto me, The Remnant that are left of the Captivity there in the Province, are in great Affliction and Reproach: the Wall of Jerufalem alfo is broken down, and the Gates thereof are burnt.

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4 And it came to pass when I heard thefe Words, that I fat down and wEPT, and MOURNED certain Days, and FASTED, and PRAYED before the GOD of HEAVEN,

5 And faid, I beseech thee, O LORD GOD of HEAVEN, the GREAT and TERRIBLE GOD, that keepeth COVENANT and MERCY for them that LOVE him and OBSERVE his COMMANDMENTS:

6 Let thine Ear now be ATTENTIVE, and thine Eyes oPEN, that thou mayeft hear the PRAYER of thy Servant, which I pray before thee now, DAY and NIGHT, for the Children of Ifrael thy Servants, and CONFESS the SINS of the Children of Ifrael, which we have SINNED against thee: both I, and my Father's House have finned.

7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the COMMANDMENTS, nor the Statutes, nor the Judgments which thou commandeft thy Servant MOSES.

8 Remember, I beseech thee, the Word that thou commandeft thy Servant Moses, saying, If ye tranfgrefs, I will scatter you abroad among the Nations.

Levit. xxvi. 40. If they fhall confefs their Iniquity, and the Iniquity of their Fathers, with their me, and that alfo they have walked Trefpafs which they trefpaffed against contrary unto me;

41 And that I also have walked contrary, and have brought them into the Land of their Enemies; if then their uncircumcised Hearts be Punishment of their Iniquity. HUMBLED, and then they accept of the

42 Then will I remember my Covenant with Jacob, and Ifaac, and alfo my Covenant with Abraham will I

9 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 Heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the Place that I have chosen to fet my Name there. 10 Now these are thy Servants, and thy People whom thou haft REDEEMED by thy GREAT POWER, and by thy STRONG HAND.

remember; and I will remember the
Land.

11 O LORD, I befeech thee, let now thine Ear be ATTENTIVE to the Prayer of thy Servants, who defire to FEAR thy NAME: and profper, I pray thee, thy Servant this Day, and GRANT him MERCY in the Sight of this Man. For I was the King's Cup-bearer,

CHAP. II.

1 Artaxerxes understanding the Caufe of Nehemiah's Sadness, fendeth him with Letters and Commiffion to Jerufalem. 9 Nehemiah

Nann

Nehemiah to the Grief of the Enemies cometh to Jerufalem. 12 He vieweth fecretly the Ruins of the Walls. 17 He inciteth the Jews to build in Defpite of the Enemies.

Ver. 1 A twentieth Year of Artaxerxes the King, that

ND it came to pafs in the Month Nifan, in the

Wine was before him: and I took up the Wine, and gave it unto the King: now I had not been before Time SAD in his Prefence.

2 Wherefore the King faid unto me, Why is thy Countenance SAD, feeing thou art not fick? this is nothing else but Sorrow of Heart. Then I was very fore afraid,

3 And faid unto the King, Let the King live for ever: why fhould not my Countenance be fad, when the City, the Place of my Fathers Sepulchres, lieth wafte, and the Gates thereof are confumed with Fire?

4 Then the King faid unto me, For what doft thou make Requeft? So I PRAYED to the GOD of HEAVEN.

And I faid unto the King, If it pleafe the King, and if thy Servant have found Favour in thy Sight, that thou wouldeft fend me unto Judah unto the City of my Fathers Sepulchres, that I may build it.

6 And the King faid unto me, (the Queen alfo fitting by him) For how long fhall thy Journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the King to fend me, and I fet him a Time.

7 Moreover, I faid unto the King, If it please the King, let Letters be given me to the Governors beyond the River, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

8 And a Letter unto Afaph the Keeper of the King's Foreft, that he may give me Timber to make Beams for the Gates of the Palace which appertained to the House, and for the Wall of the City, and for the House that I shall enter into and the King granted me, according to the good d of my GoD upon me.

9 Then I came to the Governors beyond the River, and gave them the King's Letters. (Now the King had fent Captains of the Army, and Horfemen with me.)

10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a Man to feek the WELFARE of the Children of Ifrael.

11 So I came to Jerufalem, and was there three Days.

17 Then

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