1 On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and putting dust on their heads.

Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, stood, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.

And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 They stood in their places and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and for another quarter, they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.

And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.

4 Standing on the platform of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.

5 Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said: Stand up and bless the LORD your God who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, the highest heavens, and all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.

Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

7 You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;

8 You found his heart faithful before You, and You made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites to his descendants. And You have kept Your promise because You are righteous.

And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

9 You saw the oppression of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea.

And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;

10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew how arrogantly they treated them. And You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.

And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.

11 You divided the sea before them, and they passed through it on dry ground. But You cast their pursuers into the depths like a stone into mighty waters.

And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.

12 By day, You led them with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light for the path they should follow.

Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.

13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them upright judgments, true laws, good statutes, and commandments.

Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:

14 You made Your holy Sabbath known to them, and You gave them commandments, statutes, and laws through Your servant Moses.

And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

15 You provided bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water out of a rock for their thirst. You told them to go in and take possession of the land You had sworn to give them.

And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

16 But they, our ancestors, acted arrogantly. They stiffened their necks and did not obey Your commandments.

But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

17 They refused to listen and did not remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in faithful love, and You did not abandon them.

And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

18 Even when they made a molten calf for themselves and said, 'This is your god who brought you out of Egypt,' and they committed terrible blasphemies,

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

19 You, in Your great mercy, did not abandon them in the wilderness. During the day, the pillar of cloud did not depart to guide them on their way, nor did the pillar of fire by night to give them light for the path they should take.

Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold manna from their mouths, and You provided water for their thirst.

Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

21 For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

22 You gave them kingdoms and nations, dividing them into regions. They took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan.

Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had promised their ancestors they would enter and take possession of.

Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

24 Their descendants went in and took possession of the land. You subdued the inhabitants of the land—the Canaanites—before them and handed their kings and the peoples of the land over to them, to do with as they desired.

So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses filled with every good thing, hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate, were satisfied, grew fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You. They cast Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets who warned them to turn back to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

27 So You handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But in their time of distress, they cried out to You, and You heard from heaven. In Your great mercy, You gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

28 But as soon as they had rest, they returned to doing evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to their enemies, who ruled over them. Yet when they again cried out to You, You heard from heaven and rescued them many times in Your abundant mercy.

But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;

29 You warned them to return to Your law, but they acted arrogantly and did not obey Your commandments. They sinned against Your judgments, which, if a person does, they will live by them. Stubbornly, they turned their backs, stiffened their necks, and would not listen.

And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

30 For many years, You were patient with them. You warned them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not listen. So You gave them into the hands of the peoples of the lands.

Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

31 Still, in Your great mercies, You did not utterly destroy them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.

Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

32 Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God who keeps His covenant and steadfast love, do not let the hardship that has come upon us—on our kings, leaders, priests, prophets, ancestors, and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today—seem insignificant to You.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

33 You are righteous in all that has happened to us, because You have acted faithfully while we have acted wickedly.

Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

34 Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey Your law or pay attention to Your commandments and warnings You gave them.

Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying Your abundant goodness and the spacious, fertile land You gave them, they did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.

For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

36 Here we are today, slaves in the land You gave to our ancestors so they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness—here we are, slaves in it!

Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

37 Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.