Nehemiah 9:32-37
Now, therefore, O our God, great, mighty, and awesome God, you who in your mercy preserve the covenant, take into account all the disasters that have befallen us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and your entire people, from the time of the kings of Assyria until this day! In all that has come upon us you have been just, for you kept faith while we have done evil. Yes, our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law; they paid no attention to your commandments and the obligations of which you reminded them. While they were yet in their kingdom, in the midst of the many good things that you had given them and in the wide and fertile land that you had spread out before them, they did not serve you nor did they turn away from their evil deeds. But, see, we today are slaves; and as for the land which you gave our fathers that they might eat its fruits and good things-see, we have become slaves upon it! Its rich produce goes to the kings whom you set over us because of our sins, who rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress!
Gosh, this could have been written in the 1980’s, the 1990’s, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008…
By the way, Nehemiah was a layman, he was not a priest or a prophet. Nehemiah was the "man of action" who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem after the Israelites's restoration from exile. So there is a book of the Old Testament Bible about a pious layman, "a man of good practical sense with deep faith in God."
"Nehemiah was a layman, and his generous dedication of talents to the service of God and of God's people remains an example of undiminished force for laymen today."
[NAB The Catholic Bible Personal Study Edition notes.]
