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¹ These are the actes of Nehemias the sonne of Hachalia. It fortuned in ye moneth Chisleu in ye twetieth yeare, that I was in the castell at Susan:² and Hanani one of my brethren came with certayne me of Iuda, and I axed them how the Iewes dyd that were delyuered and escaped from the captiuyte, & how it wente at Ierusale.³ And they sayde vnto me: The remnaunt of the captiuyte are there in the londe in greate mysfortune & rebuke. The walles of Ierusalem are broken downe, and the portes ther of are brent with fyre.⁴ Wha I herde these wordes, I sat me downe & wepte, & mourned two dayes, & fasted & prayed before the God of heauen,

⁵ & sayde: O LORDE God of heauen, thou greate & terrible God, thou yt kepest couenaunt & mercy for them yt loue the & obserue thy comaundementes:⁶ let yi eares marke, & let thine eies be open, yt thou mayest heare the prayer of yi seruaunt, which I praye now before ye daye and nighte for the children of Israel thy seruauntes, & knowlege the synnes of the children of Israel, which we haue commytted agaynst the. And I & my fathers house haue synned also.⁷ We haue bene corrupte vnto the, in yt we haue not kepte the comaundementes, statutes & lawes, which thou comaundedst yi seruaunt Moses.⁸ Yet call to remembraunce ye worde that thou comaundedst thy seruaunt Moses, and saydest: Yf ye trasgresse, then wil I scater you abrode amonge the nacios.⁹ But yf ye turne vnto me, and kepe my commaundementes & do them: though ye were cast out vnto the vttemost parte of heauen yet wyl I gather you from thence, and wyll brynge you from thence, eue vnto the place, that I haue chosen for my name to dwell there.¹⁰ They are thy seruauntes, and thy people, whom thou hast delyuered thorow thy greate power & mightie hande.¹¹ O LORDE, let thine eares marke the prayer of thy seruaunt, & the prayer of thy seruauntes, whose desyre is to feare thy name, & let thy seruaunt prospere this daye, & graunte him mercy in the sight of this man: for I was the kynges butlar.