Bible Strands

Nehemiah 1:6

let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Nehemiah, a servant in the Persian court, prays to the LORD God of heaven in a sustained, day-and-night confession for the Israelites. He is interceding, not yet acting.

The words — קַשֶּׁבֶת (ka.She.vet), "attentive," is a participle of קשב, picturing ears bent forward to catch a sound — not passive hearing but deliberate leaning-in.

The thread — Daniel 9:4 opens with the same address ("O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion") and moves into confession in 9:5. Psalm 34:15 states the principle: "His ears are inclined to their cry."

Why it lands — Nehemiah does not pray only for the Israelites; he says "Both I and my father's house have sinned," placing himself inside the guilt he is confessing. The intercessor is not above the people he pleads for.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

תְּהִ֣יte.Himay it beנָ֣אna'pleaseאָזְנְךָֽ־'a.ze.ne./kha-ear/ yourקַשֶּׁ֣בֶתka.She.vetattentiveוְֽעֵינֶ֪יךָve./'ei.Nei./khaand/ eyes/ yourפְתֻוּח֟וֹתfe.tu.v.Chotopenלִשְׁמֹ֣עַli/sh.Mo.a'to/ listenאֶל־'el-toתְּפִלַּ֣תte.fi.Lat[the] prayer ofעַבְדְּךָ֡'av.de./Khaservant/ yourאֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhichאָנֹכִי֩'a.no.KhiIמִתְפַּלֵּ֨לmit.pa.Lel[am] prayingלְפָנֶ֤יךָle./fa.Nei./kha<to>/ before/ youהַיּוֹם֙hai./yOmthis/ dayיוֹמָ֣םyo.Mamby dayוָלַ֔יְלָהva./Lay.lahand/ nightעַל־'al-onבְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei[the] people ofיִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelעֲבָדֶ֑יךָ'a.va.Dei./khaservants/ yourוּמִתְוַדֶּ֗הu./mit.va.Dehand/ [am] confessingעַל־'al-onחַטֹּ֤אותcha.Tot[the] sins ofבְּנֵֽי־be.nei-[the] people ofיִשְׂרָאֵל֙Yis.ra.'ElIsraelאֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhichחָטָ֣אנוּcha.Ta.nuwe have sinnedלָ֔ךְLa/khto/ youוַאֲנִ֥יva./'a.Niand/ Iוּבֵית־u./veit-and/ [the] house ofאָבִ֖י'a.V/ifather/ myחָטָֽאנוּ׃cha.Ta.nuwe have sinned

King James Version

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.

Cross-references