The People Confess Their Sins
1-2 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month the people of Israel gathered to fast in order to show sorrow for their sins. They had already separated themselves from all foreigners. They wore sackcloth and put dust on their heads as signs of grief. Then they stood and began to confess the sins that they and their ancestors had committed. 3 For about three hours the Law of the Lord their God was read to them, and for the next three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.
4 There was a platform for the Levites, and on it stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani. They prayed aloud to the Lord their God.
5 The following Levites gave a call to worship: Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah. They said:
“Stand up and praise the Lord your God;
praise him forever and ever!
Let everyone praise his glorious name,
although no human praise is great enough.”
The Prayer of Confession
6 And then the people of Israel prayed this prayer:
“You, Lord, you alone are Lord;
you made the heavens and the stars of the sky.
You made land and sea and everything in them;
you gave life to all.
The heavenly powers bow down and worship you.
7 You, Lord God, chose Abram
and led him out of Ur in Babylonia;
you changed his name to Abraham.
8 You found that he was faithful to you,
and you made a covenant with him.
You promised to give him the land of the Canaanites,
the land of the Hittites and the Amorites,
the land of the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Girgashites,
to be a land where his descendants would live.
You kept your promise, because you are faithful.
9 “You saw how our ancestors suffered in Egypt;
you heard their call for help at the Red Sea.
10 You worked amazing miracles against the king,
against his officials and the people of his land,
because you knew how they oppressed your people.
You won then the fame you still have today.
11 Through the sea you made a path for your people
and led them through on dry ground.
Those who pursued them drowned in deep water,
as a stone sinks in the raging sea.
12 With a cloud you led them in daytime,
and at night you lighted their way with fire.
13 At Mount Sinai you came down from heaven;
you spoke to your people
and gave them good laws and sound teachings.
14 You taught them to keep your Sabbaths holy,
and through your servant Moses you gave them your laws.
15 “When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven,
and water from a rock when they were thirsty.
You told them to take control of the land
which you had promised to give them.
16 But our ancestors grew proud and stubborn
and refused to obey your commands.
17 They refused to obey; they forgot all you did;
they forgot the miracles you had performed.
In their pride they chose a leader
to take them back to slavery in Egypt.
But you are a God who forgives;
you are gracious and loving, slow to be angry.
Your mercy is great; you did not forsake them.
18 They made an idol in the shape of a bull-calf
and said it was the god who led them from Egypt!
How much they insulted you, Lord!
19 But you did not abandon them there in the desert,
for your mercy is great.
You did not take away the cloud or the fire
that showed them the path by day and night.
20 In your goodness you told them what they should do;
you fed them manna and gave them water to drink.
21 Through forty years in the desert
you provided all that they needed;
their clothing never wore out,
and their feet were not swollen with pain.
22 “You let them conquer nations and kingdoms,
lands that bordered their own.
They conquered the land of Heshbon, where Sihon ruled,
and the land of Bashan, where Og was king.
23 You gave them as many children as there are stars in the sky,
and let them conquer and live in the land
that you had promised their ancestors to give them.
24 They conquered the land of Canaan;
you overcame the people living there.
You gave your people the power to do as they pleased
with the people and kings of Canaan.
25 Your people captured fortified cities,
fertile land, houses full of wealth,
cisterns already dug,
olive trees, fruit trees, and vineyards.
They ate all they wanted and grew fat;
they enjoyed all the good things you gave them.
26 “But your people rebelled and disobeyed you;
they turned their backs on your Law.
They killed the prophets who warned them,
who told them to turn back to you.
They insulted you time after time,
27 so you let their enemies conquer and rule them.
In their trouble they called to you for help,
and you answered them from heaven.
In your great mercy you sent them leaders
who rescued them from their foes.
28 When peace returned, they sinned again,
and again you let their enemies conquer them.
Yet when they repented and asked you to save them,
in heaven you heard, and time after time
you rescued them in your great mercy.
29 You warned them to obey your teachings,
but in pride they rejected your laws,
although keeping your Law is the way to life.
Hard-headed and stubborn, they refused to obey.
30 Year after year you patiently warned them.
You inspired your prophets to speak,
but your people were deaf,
so you let them be conquered by other nations.
31 And yet, because your mercy is great,
you did not forsake or destroy them.
You are a gracious and merciful God!
32 “O God, our God, how great you are!
How terrifying, how powerful!
You faithfully keep your covenant promises.
From the time when Assyrian kings oppressed us,
even till now, how much we have suffered!
Our kings, our leaders, our priests and prophets,
our ancestors, and all our people have suffered.
Remember how much we have suffered!
33 You have done right to punish us;
you have been faithful, even though we have sinned.
34 Our ancestors, our kings, leaders, and priests
have not kept your Law.
They did not listen to your commands and warnings.
35 With your blessing, kings ruled your people
when they lived in the broad, fertile land you gave them;
but they failed to turn from sin and serve you.
36 And now we are slaves in the land that you gave us,
this fertile land which gives us food.
37 What the land produces goes to the kings
that you put over us because we sinned.
They do as they please with us and our livestock,
and we are in deep distress!”
The People Sign an Agreement
38 Because of all that has happened, we, the people of Israel, hereby make a solemn written agreement, and our leaders, our Levites, and our priests put their seals to it.
1 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 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 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 ¶ 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, 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 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 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 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 And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea; 10 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 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 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 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 And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant: 15 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 and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, 17 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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 Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: 34 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 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 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 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. 38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant , and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it .