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October 24 - Nehemiah 9 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Thursday, it's the 24th of
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  October, and you have invited me into your day so that we can
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  read a chapter of God's Word together on this a Chapter a Day
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  Bible reading podcast, because as the name suggests, that is
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  what we do here and we will continue reading this story.
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  Let's let's do a little recap where we're up to.
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  All these people have come back to God's city, Jerusalem from
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  exile and it's been in disarray. They have gathered their
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  resources and under staunch opposition from their enemy
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  neighbours around them, they have rebuilt the wall, complete
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  with gates and doors to keep all their enemies out.
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  And now what do they do? They all gather in the city.
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  They open God's law and they read through what it is that God
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  would have his people do in the way that they live for him.
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  And they've gone off and had this seven day festival of
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  shelters. And the final day of the
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  festival has arrived and all the people are gathering together
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  again at the end of this festival.
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  And that is where we pick up to see what it is that they will
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  do. Remembering of course, that they
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  were moved to tears as they heard God's word the first time.
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  So to find out how they'll respond, have God's way.
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  Would people learn their lesson? Oh boy, let's find out as we
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  read together Nehemiah Chapter 9.
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  On October 31st, the people assembled again, and this time
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  they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on
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  their heads. Those of Israelite descent
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  separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed
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  their own sins and the sins of their ancestors.
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  They remained standing in place for three hours while the book
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  of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them.
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  Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and
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  worshipped the Lord their God. The Levites, Jeshua, Barney,
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  Cadmil, Shabanaya, Banay, Sharabaya, Banay and Canaani
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  stood in the stairway of the Levites and cried out to the
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  Lord their God with loud voices. Then the leaders of the Levites,
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  Jeshua, Cadmil, Barney, Hashabnaya, Sharabaya, Hodaya,
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  Shebanaya and Petanaya called out to the people, Stand up and
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  praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to
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  everlasting. Then they prayed, May your
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  glorious name be praised, may it be exalted above all blessing
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  and praise. You alone are the Lord.
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  You may the skies and the heavens and all the stars.
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  You made the earth and the seas and everything in them.
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  You preserve them all, and the angels of heaven worship you.
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  You are the Lord God. And chose Abram, and brought him
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  from ER of the Chaldeans, and renamed him Abraham.
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  When he had proved himself faithful, you made a covenant
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  with him to give him and his descendants the land of the
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  Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and
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  Gurgashites. And you have done what you
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  promised, for you are always true to your word.
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  You saw the misery of our ancestors in Egypt, and you
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  heard their cries from beside the Red Sea.
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  You displayed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, his
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  officials, and all his people, for you knew how arrogantly they
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  were treating our ancestors. You have a glorious reputation
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  that has never been forgotten. You divided the sea for your
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  people so they could walk through on dry land, and then
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  you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea.
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  They sank like stones beneath the mighty waters.
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  You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day
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  and a pillar of fire at night so that they could find their way.
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  You came down at Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven.
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  You gave them regulations and instructions that were just, and
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  decrees and commands that were good.
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  You instructed them concerning your holy Sabbath, and you
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  commanded them through Moses your servant, to obey all your
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  commands, decrees, and instructions.
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  You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry, and water
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  from the rock when they were thirsty.
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  You commanded them to go and take possession of the land you
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  had sworn to give them. But our ancestors were proud and
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  stubborn, and they paid no attention to your commands.
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  They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had
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  done for them. Instead, they became stubborn
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  and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in
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  Egypt. But you are a God of
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  forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry
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  and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them even
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  when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, This is
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  your God who brought you out of Egypt.
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  They committed terrible blasphemies, but in your great
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  mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness.
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  The pillar of clouds still LED them forward by day, and the
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  pillar of fire showed them the way through the night.
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  You sent your good spirit to instruct them, and you did not
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  stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their
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  thirst. For 40 years you sustained them
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  in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing.
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  Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
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  Then you helped our ancestors conquer kingdoms and nations,
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  and you placed your people in every corner of the land.
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  They took over the land of King Scion of Heshbon and the land of
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  King Ogg of Bashan. You made their descendants as
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  numerous as the stars and the sky and brought them into the
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  land you had promised to their ancestors.
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  They went in and took possession of the land.
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  You subdued whole nations before them.
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  Even the Canaanites who inhabited the land were
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  powerless. Your people could deal with
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  these nations and their kings as they pleased.
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  Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land.
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  They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns
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  already dug and vineyards and olive Groves and fruit trees and
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  abundance. So they ate until they were full
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  and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your
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  blessings. But despite all this, they were
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  disobedient and rebelled against you.
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  They turned their backs on your law.
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  They killed your prophets, who warned them to return to you,
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  and they committed terrible blasphemies.
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  So you handed them over to their enemies, who made them suffer.
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  But in their time of trouble they cried to you, and you heard
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  them from heaven. In your great mercy you sent
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  them liberators, who rescued them from their enemies.
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  But as soon as they were at peace, your people again
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  committed evil in your sight, and once more you let their
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  enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people turned
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  and cried to you again for help, you listened once more from
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  heaven. In your wonderful mercy you
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  rescued them. Many times You warned them to
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  return to your law, but they became proud and obstinate and
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  disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your
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  regulations by which people will find life if only they obey.
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  They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to
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  listen. In your love, you were patient
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  with them for many years. You sent your Spirit who warned
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  them through the prophets, but still they wouldn't listen.
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  So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer
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  them. But in your great mercy, you did
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  not destroy them completely or abandoned them forever.
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  What a gracious and merciful God you are.
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  And now our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps
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  his covenant of unfailing love. Do not let all the hardships we
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  have suffered seem insignificant to you.
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  Great trouble has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders
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  and priests and prophets and ancestors, all of you people,
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  from the days when the kings of Assyria first triumphed over us
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  until now, Every time you punished us, you were being
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  just. We have sinned greatly, and you
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  gave us only what we deserved. Our kings, leaders, priests, and
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  ancestors did not obey your law or listen to the warnings and
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  Your commands and laws. Even while they had their own
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  Kingdom. They did not serve you, though
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  you showered your goodness on them.
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  You gave them large fertile land, but they refused to turn
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  from their wickedness. So now today we are slaves in
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  the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their
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  enjoyment. We are slaves here in this good
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  land. The lush produce of this land
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  piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have sent over us
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  because of our sins. They have power over us and our
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  livestock. We serve them at their pleasure,
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  and we are in great misery, The people responded.
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  In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and
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  putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the
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  names of our leaders and Levites and priests,
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  Our Lord. It's quite something when they
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  lay out the large arc of history in one chapter that we see how
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  patient you have been. Oh, and Lord, while it sounds
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  like Israel was just continually painful and you had to be so
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  patient, boy, look at our lives now.
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  We continue to choose the wrong way, we continue to do the wrong
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  thing, and your patience endures forever.
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  Thank you that it doesn't matter how many times we stray and we
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  make selfish choices. You are faithful to us and you
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  continue to love us. And now, particularly because of
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  what Jesus has done for us, you continues to sanctify us every
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  day. You make us clean once again so
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  that we can come before you. And when you look at us, you see
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  your beloved children washed by the blood of your son.
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  Oh, what an incredible deal we have in Jesus and we are so
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  grateful. And it's in his name that we
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  thank you and we praise you and we pray all these things.
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  Amen.