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Two days later, the Israelite people gathered together again. {To show that they were sorry for their sins,} they went without food, they wore {clothes made from} rough cloth, and they put dirt on their {heads}. 2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves away from all the descendants of foreigners. They stood there and confessed their own sins and the wicked things their ancestors had done. 3 They stood in place and {listened to someone} read from the scroll of the law of Yahweh their God for three hours. Then for another three hours they confessed their sins and bowed down and worshiped Yahweh their God.4 {Some of} the Levites stood up on the stairs, including Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, another {man} named Bani, and Kenani. And they cried out {sorrowfully} in a loud voice to Yahweh their God. 5 Then some Levites spoke. They were named Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah.
They said, “Stand up and praise Yahweh your God, who has always {lived} and will {live} forever! Yahweh, we praise your glorious name! Your name is more important than everything else that is good and wonderful! 6 You are Yahweh, and no one else. You made the heavens that are above everything, and all that lives in the heavens {above the earth}. You made the earth and everything that is on it, and you made the seas and everything that is in them. You are the one who causes all living things to be alive. Everything that {lives} in the heavens {above the earth} worships you.
7 You are Yahweh! You are the God who chose Abram and brought him out of {the city of} Ur, where the Chaldean people {lived}. You changed his name to Abraham. 8 You saw that he was faithful to you in his inner being. You made a promise to him {pledged with blood}, promising that you would give a land {to him} and to his descendants. This was the land where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites {lived}. And you did what you promised, because you {always} do what is right.
9 You saw how {the Egyptians} mistreated our ancestors in Egypt. You heard them cry out {to you for help} when they were beside the Red Sea. 10 You knew that {the leaders of Egypt} were treating {our ancestors} very arrogantly. So you performed miracles for Pharaoh and his officials and all the people of Egypt. {These proved you are the true God.} You made yourself famous, and you are still famous! 11 You divided the sea in front of {your people Israel}, and they {walked} through the middle of the sea on dry land. But you drowned {the soldiers of the Egyptian army} under the waters. They sank as a stone sinks in deep water! 12 During the day you led {your people} by a cloud {that looked like a huge} pillar. At night you led them by a fire {that looked like a huge} pillar. It shone on the path in front of them to show them where they should walk. 13 When {our ancestors} were at Sinai Mountain, you appeared to them and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them honest instructions and trustworthy laws. You gave them good rules and commands. 14 You taught them about your Sabbath {day of rest}. It is set apart {from the other days of the week}. You gave commands and rules and laws for the people by your servant Moses. 15 When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven. When they were thirsty, you gave them water from a rock. You told them to go and take the land {of Canaan}, which you had promised with a vow to give them.
16 But our ancestors were proud and stubborn. They refused to obey what you commanded them {to do}. 17 They refused to obey you. They did not consider all the miracles that you had performed for them. They became stubborn and rebelled against you. They appointed a leader to take {them} back {to Egypt}, where they would be slaves {again}! But you are a God who forgives us. You act kindly and mercifully {toward us}. You do not become angry quickly. Instead, you faithfully love {us} very much. So you did not leave {our ancestors} alone {in the desert}. 18 Indeed {you did not leave them alone}, even though they made an idol for themselves {that resembled} a calf. They said {about the idol}, ‘This is our god, who brought us up out of Egypt.’ By doing that they insulted you greatly. 19 But because you always act mercifully, you did not leave them alone in the desert. During the daytime, the cloud {that looked like a huge} pillar above them continued to lead them in the way {you wanted them to go}. And during the night, the fire {that looked like a huge} pillar shone on the path in front of them to show them where to walk. 20 You gave them your good Spirit to instruct them. You continued to give them manna when they were hungry, and you gave them water when they were thirsty. 21 For forty years you took care of them in the desert. During all that time, they had everything they needed. Their clothes did not wear out. Their feet did not swell up, {even though they were continually walking}. 22 You helped {our ancestors} to defeat {the armies of great} kings {who ruled} many people. {By doing that,} you allowed {our ancestors} to settle in every part {of this land}. They took over the land that King Sihon ruled from {the city of} Heshbon and the land that King Og ruled in the Bashan {area}. 23 You gave so many children to {our ancestors} that they were like the stars {in the sky}. You brought them into this land, which you had told their parents to enter and take for themselves {so that they could live there}.
24 Their children went in and took the land. You enabled them to defeat the people who were living there. They were {the descendants of} Canaan. You enabled them to conquer their kings and all the people who {lived} there. They were able to do whatever they wanted to those people. 25 {Our ancestors} captured cities that had walls around them. They took possession of fertile fields. They took possession of houses that were already full of all kinds of good things, and wells that someone had already dug. They took possession of many vineyards and groves of olive trees and fruit trees. They ate all that they wanted and became fat. They enjoyed {all} the many good things you did {for them}.
26 But they turned against you. They rejected your law. They killed the prophets who warned them that they should return to {obeying} you. They {said and} did very evil things {against you}. 27 So you allowed their enemies to defeat them. But when their enemies caused them to suffer, they called out to you. You heard them from heaven, and because you are very merciful, you sent them people to help them. Those {leaders} rescued them from their enemies.
28 But when there was {a time of} peace {again}, {our ancestors} again did evil things that you {hated}. So you allowed their enemies to conquer {them} and rule over them. But {whenever} they returned to you and cried out to you again {to help them}, you heard them from heaven. You rescued them many times, because you {always} act mercifully. 29 You warned them that they should return to {obeying} your laws {again}. But they became proud {and stubborn}. They would not listen to your commands. They sinned by disobeying your decrees, even though a person lives by obeying them. They purposely ignored what you commanded them to do. They became stubborn and refused to obey.
30 You were patient with them for a long time. You warned them by {the messages} your Spirit gave to your prophets. But they did not listen {to those messages}. So again you allowed {the armies} of the nations nearby to defeat them. 31 But because you act very mercifully, you did not destroy them completely. You never left them alone. Yes, you are a very gracious and merciful God!
32 Our God, you are great and mighty and awesome! You {always} fulfill {your} promises and {always} faithfully love {us}! So now {we are praying}: Do not ignore all our difficulties. Consider all the troubles that our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all of your people have experienced. We have been experiencing these troubles since {the armies of} the kings of Assyria {conquered us} until now. We are still experiencing them today. 33 {We know that} you have acted fairly in {letting} all these things happen to us. Yes, you have treated {us} as {we} deserve. But we have done evil things. 34 {In the past,} our kings, our leaders, our priests and our {other} ancestors did not obey your laws. They did not listen to your commands or the warnings that you gave them. 35 They had their own kings. They {enjoyed} the many good things that you provided in this large and fertile land that you gave them. But {even then,} they did not serve you. They would not stop doing evil things.
36 Consider our situation! Today we {live like} slaves here in this land that you gave to our ancestors. You gave them this land so that they could enjoy all the good things that grow here. But consider us now! We are {like} slaves on this land. 37 The kings whom you have allowed to rule over us are enjoying {all} the good things that grow here. This is because we have sinned. They rule over our bodies and our cattle. They do whatever they please. We feel great distress. 38 Because of all this, we {the Israelite people} are making a solemn agreement. We are writing it on a scroll. We will write down {the names of} our leaders, our Levites, and our priests. Then we will seal the scroll.”