The Promise of Restoration
(Nehemiah 1:1–11)

1“When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} has banished you, 2and when you and your children return to the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today, 3then He {YHWH} will restore you from captivity (restore your fortunes)a and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} has scattered you. 4Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon (to the extremity of the heavens),b He {YHWH} will gather you and return you from there <Neh 1:8–9>.c

5And the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers. 6The LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

7Then the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you. 8And you will again obey the voice of the LORD {YHWH} and follow all His commandments I am giving you today. 9So the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers, 10if you obey the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} by keeping His commandments and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life or Death

11For this commandment I give you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12It is not in heaven, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven <Rom 10:6>d to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ 13And it is not beyond the sea, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea <Rom 10:7>e to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ 14But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart <Rom 10:8>,f so that you may obey it.

15See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, as well as death and disaster. 16For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka}, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

17But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18I declare to you⁺ today that you⁺ will surely perish; you⁺ shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan (flowing down) to possess.

19I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you⁺ today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, 20and that you may love the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka}, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham (father of many), Isaac (he laughs), and Jacob (he grasps the heel).”