Lexicon :: Strong's G4771 - sy

We have acted corruptly toward you and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances you gave your servant Moses.

Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples.

“But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon,[fn] I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.”

They are your servants and your people. You redeemed them by your great power and strong hand.

Please, Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to that of your servants who delight to revere your name. Give your servant success today, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.[fn]

At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.

Then the king asked me, “What is your request? ”

So I prayed to the God of the heavens

and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried,[fn] so that I may rebuild it.”

The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return? ” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.

So I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked and despised us, and said, “What is this you’re doing? Are you rebelling against the king? ”

I gave them this reply, “The God of the heavens is the one who will grant us success. We, his servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”

At that time, I also said to the people, “Let everyone and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”

and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish countrymen who were sold to foreigners, but now you sell your own countrymen, and we have to buy them back.” They remained silent and could not say a word.

Then I said, “What you are doing isn’t right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God and not invite the reproach of our foreign enemies?

They responded, “We will return these things and require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”

So I summoned the priests and made everyone take an oath to do this.

In it was written:

It is reported among the nations ​— ​and Geshem[fn] agrees ​— ​that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king

Then I replied to him, “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”

I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was restricted to his house. He said:

Let’s meet at the house of God,

inside the temple.

Let’s shut the temple doors

because they’re coming to kill you.

They’re coming to kill you tonight![fn]

You,[fn] LORD, are the only God.[fn]

You created the heavens,

the highest heavens with all their stars,

the earth and all that is on it,

the seas and all that is in them.

You give life to all of them,

and all the stars of heaven worship you.

You, the LORD,

are the God who chose Abram

and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,

and changed his name to Abraham.

You found his heart faithful in your sight,

and made a covenant with him

to give the land of the Canaanites,

Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites,

Jebusites, and Girgashites —

to give it to his descendants.

You have fulfilled your promise,

for you are righteous.

You revealed your holy Sabbath to them,

and gave them commands, statutes, and instruction

through your servant Moses.

You provided bread from heaven for their hunger;

you brought them water from the rock for their thirst.

You told them to go in and possess the land

you had sworn[fn] to give them.

But our ancestors acted arrogantly;

they became stiff-necked and did not listen to your commands.

They refused to listen

and did not remember your wonders

you performed among them.

They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader

to return to their slavery in Egypt.[fn]

But you are a forgiving God,

gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and abounding in faithful love,

and you did not abandon them.

you did not abandon them in the wilderness

because of your great compassion.

During the day the pillar of cloud

never turned away from them,

guiding them on their journey.

And during the night the pillar of fire

illuminated the way they should go.

You sent your good Spirit to instruct them.

You did not withhold your manna from their mouths,

and you gave them water for their thirst.

They captured fortified cities and fertile land

and took possession of well-supplied houses,

cisterns cut out of rock, vineyards,

olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.

They ate, were filled,

became prosperous, and delighted in your great goodness.

But they were disobedient and rebelled against you.

They flung your law behind their backs

and killed your prophets

who warned them

in order to turn them back to you.

They committed terrible blasphemies.

So you handed them over to their enemies,

who oppressed them.

In their time of distress, they cried out to you,

and you heard from heaven.

In your abundant compassion

you gave them deliverers, who rescued them

from the power of their enemies.

But as soon as they had relief,

they again did what was evil in your sight.

So you abandoned them to the power of their enemies,

who dominated them.

When they cried out to you again,

you heard from heaven and rescued them

many times in your compassion.

You warned them to turn back to your law,

but they acted arrogantly

and would not obey your commands.

They sinned against your ordinances,

which a person will live by if he does them.

They stubbornly resisted,[fn]

stiffened their necks, and would not obey.

You were patient with them for many years,

and your Spirit warned them through your prophets,

but they would not listen.

Therefore, you handed them over to the surrounding peoples.

However, in your abundant compassion,

you did not destroy them or abandon them,

for you are a gracious and compassionate God.

So now, our God ​— ​the great, mighty,

and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant —

do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us,

our kings and leaders,

our priests and prophets,

our ancestors and all your people,

from the days of the Assyrian kings until today.

You are righteous concerning all that has happened to us,

because you have acted faithfully,

while we have acted wickedly.

Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors

did not obey your law

or listen to your commands

and warnings you gave them.

When they were in their kingdom,

with your abundant goodness that you gave them,

and in the spacious and fertile land you set before them,

they would not serve you or turn from their wicked ways.

“Didn’t your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath! ”

but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I’ll use force[fn] against you.” After that they did not come again on the Sabbath.

Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the city gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion according to the abundance of your faithful love.

I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves!