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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 befeech 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 the 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 Houfe 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 befeech thee, the Word that thou commandeft thy Servant Mofes, faying, If ye tranfgrefs, I will scatter you abroad among the Nations.

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

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

42 Then Will I remember my Co. venant with Jacob, and Ifaac, and alfo my Covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the Land.

9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my Commandments, and do them; though there were of you caft out unto the uttermoft 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. ́

II 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.

CHA P. II.

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

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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 Despite of the Enemies.

Ver. 1 Awentieth Year of Artaxerxes the King, that

ND 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, seeing thou art not fick? this is nothing clie but Sorrow of Heart. Then I was very fore afraid,

3 And faid unto the King, Let the King live for ever: why should 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 Request? So I PRAYED to the GoD of HEAVEN.

And I faid unto the King, If it please 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 pleafed 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 Hand 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.)

io 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.

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

17 Then

17 Then faid I, Ye fee the Diftrefs that we are in, how Jerufalem lieth wafte, and the Gates thereof are burnt with Fire: come let us build up the Wall of Jerufalem, that we be no more a Reproach.

18 Then I told them of the Hand of my GOD which was good upon me; as alfo the King's Words that he had spoken unto me. And they faid, Let us rife up and build. So they strengthened their Hands for this good Work.

19 But when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Gefhem the Arabian heard it, they laughed us to Scorn, and defpifed us, and faid, What is this Thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the King.

20 Then answered I them, and faid unto them, The GOD OF HEAVEN he will profper us; therefore we his Servants will arise and build: but you have no Portion, nor Right, nor Memorial in Jerufalem.

CHA P. III.

The Names and Order of them that builded the Wall.

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1 While the Enemies fcoff Nehemiah prayeth and continueth the Work. 7 Understanding the Wrath aud Secrets of the Enemy, he fetteth a Watch. 13 He armeth the Labourers, 19 And giveth military Precepts.

Ver. B 'B UT it came to pafs, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the Wall, he was wroth, and took great Indignation, and mocked the Jews.

2 And he spake before his Brethren and the Army of Samaria, and faid, What do these feble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they facrifice? will they make an End in a Day? will they revive the Stones out of the Heaps of the Rubbish, which are burnt?

3 Now Tobiah faid, Even that which they build, if a Fox go up, he fhall even break down their Stone-wall.

4 Hear, O OUR GOD, for we are defpifed: and turn their Reproach upon their own Head, and give them for a Prey in the Land of Captivity.

5 And cover not their Iniquity, and let not their Sin be

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blotted

blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to Anger before the Builders.

6 So built we the Wall; and all the Wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the People had a Mind to work.

7 But it came to pafs that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Afhdodites, heard that the Walls of Jerufalem were made up, and that the Breaches began to be ftopped, then they were very wroth.

8 And confpired all of them together, to come and to fight against Jerufalem, and to hinder it.

9 Nevertheless, we made our PRAYER unto our God, and fet a Watch against them Day and Night, because of them.

14 And I looked, and rofe up, and faid unto the Nobles, and to the Rulers, and to the reft of the People, Be not ye afraid of them: REMEMBER the LORD which is GREAT and TERRIBLE, and fight for your Brethren, your Sons and your Daughters, your Wives and your Houfes.

CHAP. V.

The Jews complain of their Debt, Mortgage, and Bondage. 6 Nehemiah rebuketh the Ufurers, and caufeth them to make a Covenant of Reftitution. 14 He forbeareth his own Allowance, and keepeth Hofpitality.

7. I

A

ND there was a great Cry of the People, and of their Wives against their Brethren the Jews. 2 For there were that faid, We, our Sons, and our Daughters are many: therefore we take up Corn for them, that we may eat and live.

3 Some alfo there were that faid, We have MORTGAGED our Lands, Vineyards, and Houses, that we might BUY CORN, because of the DEARTH.

There were also that faid, We have BORROWED MONEY for the KING'S TRIBUTE, and that upon our LANDS and VINEYARDS.

5 Yet now our Flesh is as the Flesh of our Brethren, our Children as their Children: and lo, we bring into BONDAGE our Sons and our Daughters to be Servants, and fome of

our

our Daughters are brought unto Bondage already, neither is it in our POWER TO REDEEM THEM FOR OTHER MEN HAVE OUR LANDS and VINEYARDS.

6 And I was very angry when I heard their CRY, and thefe Words.

7 Then I confulted with my self, and I rebuked the Nobles, and the Rulers, and faid unto them, You EXACT USURY, every one of his Brother. And I fet a great AsSEMBLY against them.

8 And I faid unto them, We after our Ability, have redeemed our Brethren the Jews, which were fold unto the Heathen; and will you even SELL your Brethren? or shall they be fold unto us? then held they their Peace, and found nothing to answer.

9 Alfo I faid, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to WALK in the FEAR of our GOD, because of the Reproach of the Heathen our Enemies?

10 I likewife, and my Brethren, and my Servants, might exact of them Money and Corn: I pray you let us LEAVE OFF this USURY.

11 RESTORE, I pray you, to them even this Day, their LANDS, their VINEYARDS, their OLIVE YARDS, and their HOUSES, alfo the hundredth Part of the MONEY, and of the CORN, the WINE, and the OYL, that ye EXACT of them.

12 Then faid they, We will RESTORE them, and will re quire nothing of them; fo' will we do as thou fayest. Then I called the PRIESTS, and took an Oath of them, that they fhould do according to this Promise.

13 Alfo I fhook my Lap, and faid, So GoD fhake out every Man from his House and from his Labour, that performeth not this Promife, even thus be he fhaken out, andemptied. And all the Congregation faid, Amen, and PRAISED the LORD. And the People did according to this Promise.

14 Moreover, from the Time that I was appointed to be their GOVERNOR, that is twelve Years, I and my Brethren have not eaten the Bread of the Governor.

15 But the former Governors that had been before me, were chargeable unto the People, and had taken of them. Bread and Wine, befides forty Shekels of Silver, yea even their SERVANTS bear RULE OVER the PEOPLE: but so DID NOT I, because of the FEAR of God.

16 Yea, alfo I continued in the Work of this Wall, neither bought we any Land, 17 Moreover,

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