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reproach; the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire by our enemies.

4 And it came to pass, when he heard these words, that he sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven ;

5 And said, I beseech 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 mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man : for he was the king's cup-bearer.

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And it came to pass soon after, that wine was set before the king and Nehemiah took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now he had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

2 Wherefore the king said unto him, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then he was very sore afraid,

3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever : why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father's sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

4 Then the king said unto him, For what dost thou make request? So he prayed to the God of heaven.

屁 And he said unto the bine. If it please the king. and if

thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres that I may build it.

6 And the king said unto him (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send him; and he set the king a time.

7 Moreover he said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given to me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come unto Judah;

8 And a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace, which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted him according to the good band of his God upon him so the wall was repaired, and the city secured.

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LESSON CXXV. NEHEMIAH, CHAP. VIII.

ND all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water-gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.

2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water-gate, from the morning until mid-day, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam

5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people (for he was above all the people); and when he opened it, all the people stood up;

6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands; and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord, with their faces to the ground.

And the Levites that stood by Ezra caused the people to un

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derstand the law. So they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God: mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

io Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto the Lord; neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength,

11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.

12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

13 And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.

14 And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths, in the feast of the seventh month :

15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

16 So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water-gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.

17 And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity, made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, unto that day, had no: the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.

18 Also, day by day, from the first day unto the last day, Ezra read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

THE END.

Stereotyped and printed by Andrew Wilson, Duke Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields

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