29 and dost testify against them, to bring them back unto Thy law; and they -- they have acted proudly, and have not hearkened to Thy commands, and against Thy judgments have sinned, -- which man doth and hath lived in them -- and they give a refractory shoulder, and their neck have hardened, and have not hearkened.
`And they and our fathers have acted proudly, and harden their neck, and have not hearkened unto Thy commands,
`And they are disobedient, and rebel against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their back, and Thy prophets they have slain, who testified against them, to bring them back unto Thee, and they do great despisings,
and ye have kept My statutes and My judgments which man doth and liveth in them; I `am' Jehovah.
And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing. And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts.
And I give to them My statutes, And my judgments I caused them to know, Which the man who doth -- liveth by them.
and greater grace he doth give, wherefore he saith, `God against proud ones doth set Himself up, and to lowly ones He doth give grace?' be subject, then, to God; stand up against the devil, and he will flee from you; draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you; cleanse hands, ye sinners! and purify hearts, ye two-souled! be exceeding afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter to mourning be turned, and the joy to heaviness; be made low before the Lord, and He shall exalt you.
for Moses doth describe the righteousness that `is' of the law, that, `The man who did them shall live in them,'
And he said to him, `Rightly thou didst answer; this do, and thou shalt live.'
and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him,
And Moses cometh in -- Aaron also -- unto Pharaoh, and they say unto him, `Thus said Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, Until when hast thou refused to be humbled at My presence? send My people away, and they serve Me,
`The word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah -- we are not hearkening unto thee; for we certainly do everything that hath gone out of our mouth, to make perfume to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out to her libations, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our heads, in cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem, and -- we are satisfied with bread, and we are well, and evil we have not seen.
They have not been humbled unto this day, nor have they been afraid, nor have they walked in My law, and in My statutes, that I have set before you and before your fathers.
`From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and unto this day -- this three and twentieth year -- hath the word of Jehovah been unto me, and I speak unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened; And Jehovah hath sent unto you all His servants, the prophets, rising early and sending, and ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, saying: `Turn back, I pray you, each from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell on the ground that Jehovah hath given to you and to your fathers from age unto age, And ye do not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow yourselves to them, nor do ye provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I do no evil to you; And ye have not hearkened unto Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- so as to provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands for evil to you.
And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And they stiffen their neck not to hear, And not to receive instruction.
Hear, and give ear -- be not haughty, For Jehovah hath spoken. Give ye to Jehovah your God honour, Before He doth cause darkness, And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, And ye have waited for light, And He hath made it for death-shade, And hath appointed `it' for thick darkness. And if ye do not hear it, In secret places doth my soul weep, because of pride, Yea, it weepeth sore, And the tear cometh down mine eyes, For the flock of Jehovah hath been taken captive.
And Jehovah, God of their fathers, sendeth unto them by the hand of His messengers -- rising early and sending -- for He hath had pity on His people, and on His habitation,
And He sendeth among them prophets, to bring them back unto Jehovah, and they testify against them, and they have not given ear;
And Jehovah testifieth against Israel, and against Judah, by the hand of every prophet, and every seer, saying, `Turn back from your evil ways, and keep My commands, My statutes, according to all the law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent unto you by the hand of My servants the prophets;'
`And it hath been, when many evils and distresses do meet it, that this song hath testified to its face for a witness; for it is not forgotten out of the mouth of its seed, for I have known its imagining which it is doing to-day, before I bring them in unto the land of which I have sworn.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 9
Commentary on Nehemiah 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
The tenth day of the seventh month between the feast of trumpets (ch. 8:2) and the feast of tabernacles (v. 14) was appointed to be the day of atonement; we have no reason to think but that it was religiously observed, though it is not mentioned. But here we have an account of an occasional fast that was kept a fortnight after that, with reference to the present posture of their affairs, and it was, as that, a day of humiliation. There is a time to weep as well as a time to laugh. We have here an account.
Neh 9:1-3
We have here a general account of a public fast which the children of Israel kept, probably by order from Nehemiah, by and with the advice and consent of the chief of the fathers. It was a fast that men appointed, but such a fast as God had chosen; for,
Neh 9:4-38
We have here an account how the work of this fast-day was carried on.
In this solemn address to God we have,