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the twenty-fourth day of the same month the Israelites assembled together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, and they put dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 While they were standing in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth part of the day, and spent another fourth in confession and worship of the Lord their God. 4 Some Levites were standing on a raised platform—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani. They called out with loud voices to 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! 6 You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, even the highest heavens and all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and the host of heaven worships you.
7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and changed his name to Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give him the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, for You are righteous.
9 “You saw the affliction of our forefathers in Egypt, and heard their cry at the Red Sea. 10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for You knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they crossed through the sea on dry ground, but their pursuers You hurled into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 You led them by day with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the way they were to go.
13 “You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances and true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 14 You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, and gave them commandments, statutes, and laws by the hand of Your servant Moses. 15 You provided them with bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water from a rock for their thirst. You told them that they should go into possess the land that You had sworn to give them.
16 “But they, our forefathers, acted arrogantly; they became stiff-necked and did not obey Your commands. 17 They refused to listen, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You performed among them. Instead they stiffened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. So You did not forsake them. 18 Even when they had cast a moulded image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt’, or when they committed terrible blasphemies.
19 “Because of Your great compassion, You did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud that led them along the way did not leave them by day, nor the pillar of fire to give them light by night on the way they should go. 20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold You manna from their mouths, and You gave 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.
22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, and allotted to them even the farthest regions. They took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the heavens, and You brought them into the land that You told their fathers to go in and possess. 24 So their descendants went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land. You delivered them into their hands; both their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile lands; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full until they grew fat; they delighted in Your to a great goodness.
26 “Yet even so, they were disobedient and rebelled against You. They flung Your law behind their backs. They kill Your prophets, who admonished them to turn them back to You; they committed terrible blasphemies. 27 So You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who oppressed them. But in the time of their suffering, they cried out to You. You heard them from heaven, and in Your abundant mercy You sent them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28 “But when they had relief, they again did what was evil in Your sight. Then You abandoned them to the power of their enemies, so they had dominion over them. Yet when they cried out to You again, You heard them from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion.
29 “You warned them to turn back to Your law, yet they acted arrogantly, and would not obey Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he does them. They stubbornly turned their backs, stiffened their necks, and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. You admonished them with Your Spirit, and through Your prophets, but they refused to listen. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the neighbouring peoples. 31 However, because of Your great mercies You did not put an end to them or forsake them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.
32 “Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of faithful love, do not let all this trouble seem insignificant before You that has come upon us, our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. 33 You have been just in all that has come upon us, for You have acted faithfully, while we have done wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your law; they did not take heed of Your commandments, or the warnings You gave them. 35 Even while they were in their own kingdom, enjoying the goodness You lavished upon them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You set before them, they did not serve You, or turn from the evil of their ways.
36 “Here we are today, slaves, slaves in the land You gave to our forefathers, so they could eat its fruit and enjoy its bounty. 37 Because of our sins, it yields its abundant harvest to kings that you have set over us. They have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle as they please. So we are in great distress.
38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement and putting it down in writing; and our leaders, our Levites, and our priests are placing their seal on it.”