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¹ And on the twenty fourth day of this month the sons of Israel were gathered with fasting and with sackcloth, and with earth on them.² And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all the sons of aliens, and they stood and confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers.³ And they stood up in their place and read in the Book of the Law of Jehovah their God a fourth part of the day. And a fourth part they confessed and worshiped Jehovah their God.

⁴ Then Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, of the Levites stood on the stairs and cried with a loud voice to Jehovah their God.⁵ Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, Stand up! Bless Jehovah your God forever and ever. And blessed be the Name of YourGlory, even He being exalted aboveall blessing and praise.⁶ You alone are He , O Jehovah; You have made the heavens, and Heaven of the heavens, and all their host; the earth and all which is on it; the seas, and all that is in them; and Youshall preserve them all alive. And the host ofthe heavens bows down to You.⁷ You are Jehovah the God who chose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and appointed his name, Abraham.⁸ And You found his heart faithful before You, and cut with him the covenant to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give performed Your Words, for You are righteous.⁹ And You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Sea of Reeds.¹⁰ And You gave signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of the land. For You knew that they were seething against them. And You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.¹¹ And You divided the Sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the Sea on the dry land. And their pursuers You threw into the depths, like a stone into the mighty waters.¹² And You led them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way in which they should go.¹³ And You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from the heavens, and gave them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments.¹⁴ And You made Your holy sabbath known to them, and You commanded commandments, statutes, and laws, to them by the hand of Your servant Moses.¹⁵ And You gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst. And You said to them that they should go in to possess the land which You had lifted up Your hand to give them.¹⁶ But they and our fathers acted presumptuously, and hardened their necks, and did not listen to Your commands.¹⁷ And they refused to hear, and were not mindful of Your wonders which You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return them to their bondage. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and did not forsake them.¹⁸ Yea, when they had made a casted calf for themselves, and said, This is your god who brought you up out of Egypt, and had worked great blasphemies,¹⁹ yet You in Your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.²⁰ You also gave Your good Spirit to teach them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.²¹ Yea, forty years You sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.²² And You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and divided them into corners. And they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.²³ You also multiplied their sons like the stars of the heavens and brought them into the land which You had promised to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it.²⁴ And the sons went in and possessed the land, and You humbled the people of the land before them, the Canaanites. And You gave them into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, to do with them as they desired.²⁵ And they seized strong cities and a rich land, and occupied houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards and oliveyards and fruit trees in abundance. And they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.²⁶ But they were disobedient, and rebelled against You, and cast Your Law behind their backs. And they killed Your prophets who testified against them, to turn them to You. And they worked great blasphemies.²⁷ And You gave them into the hand of their enemies, who distressed them. And in the time of their distress, they cried to You; and You heard from Heaven. And according to Your abundant mercies, You gave them deliverers, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.²⁸ But after a rest to them, they turned to doing evil before You. And You left them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. But they came back and cried to You, and You heard them from Heaven, and You saved them according to Your mercies.²⁹ And You testified against them to bring them again to Your Law, but they acted presumptuously, and did not listen to Your commands, but were against Your judgments; they sinned in them, which if a man does, he shall live in them. And they gave arebellious shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.³⁰ But many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit, by Your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. And You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.³¹ But for Your great mercies, You did not consume nor forsake them; for You are a gracious and merciful God.³² And now our God, the great, the mighty and the fearful God, keeping the covenant and the mercy, let it not seem little before You, all the trouble which has found us, to our kings, to our rulers, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers, and to all Your people, since the day of the kings of Assyria to this day.³³ And You are just as to all that came on us, for You have done right; but we have done evilly.³⁴ And our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your Law, nor attended to Your commands and Your testimonies with which You testified against them.³⁵ And they have not served You in their kingdom, and in Your great goodness which You gave to them, and in the large and rich land which You gave before them. And they did not turn from their evil works.³⁶ Behold, we are slaves today, even the land that You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are slaves in it.³⁷ And it yields much increase to the kings whom You have given to be over us because of our sinning. And they rule over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure; and we are in great distress.³⁸ And because of all this, we are cutting a sure covenant and writing it , and our rulers, Levites, and priests are sealing it.