אֲנוּ

Then I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.”

But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews.

I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and large, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.

So we did the work. Half of the people held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.

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

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

There were also some who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the famine.”

Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage to be servants, and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage. It is also not in our power to help it, because other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

I said to them, “We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?” Then they held their peace, and found not a word to say.

However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly.

“Behold, we are servants today, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in it.

“Behold, we are servants today, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in it.

It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have power over our bodies and over our livestock, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

Yet for all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal it.”

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow.)

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.

They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright.

So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.

for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice!

Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.

but we will bless Yah, from this time forward and forever more. Praise Yah!

Our soul has escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare. The snare is broken, and we have escaped.

Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.

The inhabitants of this coast land will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria. And we, how will we escape?’ ”

Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t speak to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed Yahweh our God’s voice.”

“ ‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made that a lie.

“Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves! Let’s enter into the fortified cities, and let’s be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.

“The harvest is past. The summer has ended, and we are not saved.”

Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.”

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn’t he fear Yahweh, and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the disaster which he had pronounced against them? We would commit great evil against our own souls that way!”

We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;

But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

“When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”

“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?’

Our fathers sinned, and are no more. We have borne their iniquities.

who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’

that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”