The People Confess Their Sin

      1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God. 4Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

      5Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the LORD your God forever and ever!
         O may Your glorious name be blessed
         And exalted above all blessing and praise!

6“You alone are the LORD.
         You have made the heavens,
         The heaven of heavens with all their host,
         The earth and all that is on it,
         The seas and all that is in them.
         You give life to all of them
         And the heavenly host bows down before You.

7“You are the LORD God,
         Who chose Abram
         And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees,
         And gave him the name Abraham.

8“You found his heart faithful before You,
         And made a covenant with him
         To give him the land of the Canaanite,
         Of the Hittite and the Amorite,
         Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—
         To give it to his descendants.
         And You have fulfilled Your promise,
         For You are righteous.

9“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
         And heard their cry by the Red Sea.

10“Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
         Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
         For You knew that they acted arrogantly toward them,
         And made a name for Yourself as it is this day.

11“You divided the sea before them,
         So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground;
         And their pursuers You hurled into the depths,
         Like a stone into raging waters.

12“And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day,
         And with a pillar of fire by night
         To light for them the way
         In which they were to go.

13“Then You came down on Mount Sinai,
         And spoke with them from heaven;
         You gave them just ordinances and true laws,
         Good statutes and commandments.

14“So You made known to them Your holy sabbath,
         And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law,
         Through Your servant Moses.

15“You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
         You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
         And You told them to enter in order to possess
         The land which You swore to give them.

16“But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
         They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.

17“They refused to listen,
         And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them;
         So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
         But You are a God of forgiveness,
         Gracious and compassionate,
         Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
         And You did not forsake them.

18“Even when they made for themselves
         A calf of molten metal
         And said, ‘This is your God
         Who brought you up from Egypt,’
         And committed great blasphemies,

19You, in Your great compassion,
         Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
         The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
         To guide them on their way,
         Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.

20“You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
         Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
         And You gave them water for their thirst.

21“Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;
         Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.

22“You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
         And allotted them to them as a boundary.
         They took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon
         And the land of Og the king of Bashan.

23“You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven,
         And You brought them into the land
         Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

24“So their sons entered and possessed the land.
         And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
         And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
         To do with them as they desired.

25“They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.
         They took possession of houses full of every good thing,
         Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
         Fruit trees in abundance.
         So they ate, were filled and grew fat,
         And reveled in Your great goodness.

26“But they became disobedient and rebelled against You,
         And cast Your law behind their backs
         And killed Your prophets who had admonished them
         So that they might return to You,
         And they committed great blasphemies.

27“Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them,
         But when they cried to You in the time of their distress,
         You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion
         You gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.

28“But as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You;
         Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them.
         When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven,
         And many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,

29And admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law.
         Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances,
         By which if a man observes them he shall live.
         And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

30“However, You bore with them for many years,
         And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets,
         Yet they would not give ear.
         Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

31“Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them,
         For You are a gracious and compassionate God.

32“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.

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

34“For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law
         Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.

35“But they, in their own kingdom,
         With Your great goodness which You gave them,
         With the broad and rich land which You set before them,
         Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.

36“Behold, we are slaves today,
         And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty,
         Behold, we are slaves in it.

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

A Covenant Results

38“Now because of all this
         We are making an agreement in writing;
         And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And in the four and twentieth day of the month the children of Israel came together with fasting and with sackcloth, and earth upon them.

Darby Bible Translation
And on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

English Revised Version
Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them.

Webster's Bible Translation
Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

World English Bible
Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them.

Young's Literal Translation
And in the twenty and fourth day of this month have the sons of Israel been gathered, with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them;The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength. Neh 9:10
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Questions About the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath.
AND PROOF, THAT THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'The Son of man is lord also of the Sabbath day.' London: Printed for Nath, Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1685. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. All our inquiries into divine commands are required to be made personally, solemnly, prayerful. To 'prove all things,' and 'hold fast' and obey 'that which is good,' is a precept, equally binding upon the clown, as it is upon the philosopher. Satisfied from our observations …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Ten Reasons Demonstrating the Commandment of the Sabbath to be Moral.
1. Because all the reasons of this commandment are moral and perpetual; and God has bound us to the obedience of this commandment with more forcible reasons than to any of the rest--First, because he foresaw that irreligious men would either more carelessly neglect, or more boldly break this commandment than any other; secondly, because that in the practice of this commandment the keeping of all the other consists; which makes God so often complain that all his worship is neglected or overthrown, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The "Fraternity" of Pharisees
To realise the state of religious society at the time of our Lord, the fact that the Pharisees were a regular "order," and that there were many such "fraternities," in great measure the outcome of the original Pharisees, must always be kept in view. For the New Testament simply transports us among contemporary scenes and actors, taking the then existent state of things, so to speak, for granted. But the fact referred to explains many seemingly strange circumstances, and casts fresh light upon all. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Fragrant Spices from the Mountains of Myrrh. "Thou Art all Fair, My Love; There is no Spot in Thee. " --Song of Solomon iv. 7.
FRAGRANT SPICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MYRRH. HOW marvellous are these words! "Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee." The glorious Bridegroom is charmed with His spouse, and sings soft canticles of admiration. When the bride extols her Lord there is no wonder, for He deserves it well, and in Him there is room for praise without possibility of flattery. But does He who is wiser than Solomon condescend to praise this sunburnt Shulamite? Tis even so, for these are His own words, and were …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

The Personality of the Holy Spirit.
Before one can correctly understand the work of the Holy Spirit, he must first of all know the Spirit Himself. A frequent source of error and fanaticism about the work of the Holy Spirit is the attempt to study and understand His work without first of all coming to know Him as a Person. It is of the highest importance from the standpoint of worship that we decide whether the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, worthy to receive our adoration, our faith, our love, and our entire surrender to Himself, …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He Associates with Malchus
[Sidenote: 1095.] 1. Our Malachy, born in Ireland,[134] of a barbarous people, was brought up there, and there received his education. But from the barbarism of his birth he contracted no taint, any more than the fishes of the sea from their native salt. But how delightful to reflect, that uncultured barbarism should have produced for us so worthy[135] a fellow-citizen with the saints and member of the household of God.[136] He who brings honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock[137] …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Gift of the Spirit
When Christ gave His disciples the promise of the Spirit, He was nearing the close of His earthly ministry. He was standing in the shadow of the cross, with a full realization of the load of guilt that was to rest upon Him as the Sin Bearer. Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim, He instructed His disciples regarding a most essential and complete gift which He was to bestow upon His followers--the gift that would bring within their reach the boundless resources of His grace. "I will pray …
Ellen Gould White—The Acts of the Apostles

The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Preface to the Commandments
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God,' &c. Exod 20: 1, 2. What is the preface to the Ten Commandments? The preface to the Ten Commandments is, I am the Lord thy God.' The preface to the preface is, God spake all these words, saying,' &c. This is like the sounding of a trumpet before a solemn proclamation. Other parts of the Bible are said to be uttered by the mouth of the holy prophets (Luke 1: 70), but here God spake in his own person. How are we to understand that, God spake, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Of Immediate Revelation.
Of Immediate Revelation. [29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

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