1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the people of Israel assembled, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and with dirt on their heads.
2The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood and confessed their sins and the wrongdoing of their ancestors.
3They stood in their place and read from the book of the law of Yahweh their God for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day, they confessed their sins and worshiped Yahweh their God.
4Then the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the steps and cried out loudly to Yahweh their God.
5Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, "Stand up and praise Yahweh your God forever and ever! May your glorious name be blessed, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
6You alone are Yahweh. You made the heavens, the highest heavens, with all their stars, the earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them. You preserve them all, and the heavenly beings worship you.
7You are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham.
8“You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites to his descendants. You have kept your promises, because you are righteous.”
9You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt, and heard their cries by the Red Sea.
10You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land; for you knew that they treated them arrogantly, and you made a name for yourself, which is still known today.
11You divided the sea in front of them, so they walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground; and you threw their pursuers into the deep water, like a stone into powerful waters.
12Also, you led them by day with a pillar of cloud; and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the path they should take.
13You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them fair rules and true laws, good regulations and commands.
14You made your holy Sabbath known to them, and gave them commands, regulations, and a law through your servant Moses.
15You gave them bread from the sky when they were hungry, and brought water out of the rock for them when they were thirsty, and commanded them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn to give them.
16But they and our ancestors acted proudly, became stubborn, and did not listen to your commands.
17They refused to obey. They did not remember the amazing things you did among them, but became stubborn, and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return to their slavery. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to get angry, and very loving, and you did not abandon them.
18Indeed, when they had made themselves a calf out of melted metal, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed terrible insults against you;
19still, in your many acts of mercy, you did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not leave them during the day to lead them on their journey; nor did the pillar of fire at night, to show them light and the way they should go.
20You also gave your good Spirit to teach them, and you did not hold back your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.
21Yes, you provided for them for forty years in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.
22Moreover, you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you divided according to their portions. So they took possession of the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan.
23You also made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and brought them into the land about which you had told their ancestors that they should go in and take possession of it.
24So the children went in and took possession of the land, and you defeated the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, before them, and handed them over to them, with their kings and the peoples of the land, so they could do with them as they pleased.
25They took fortified cities and a fertile land, and possessed houses full of all good things, wells that had been dug, vineyards, olive groves, and many fruit trees. So they ate, were full, grew prosperous, and enjoyed your great goodness.
26Nevertheless, they disobeyed and rebelled against you, ignored your law, killed your prophets who warned them to turn back to you, and committed terrible acts of disrespect against you.
27Therefore, you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. In their time of trouble, when they cried out to you, you heard from heaven; and according to your many mercies, you gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.
28But after they had rest, they again did evil in your sight; therefore, you left them in the hands of their enemies, so their enemies ruled over them; yet when they turned back and cried out to you, you heard from heaven; and many times you rescued them according to your mercies.
29You warned them so that they might return to your law. But they were arrogant and would not listen to your commands. They sinned against your rules—rules that give life to anyone who follows them. They turned their backs on you, were stubborn, and refused to listen.
30For many years you were patient with them. You warned them through your Spirit, using your prophets. But they would not pay attention. So you handed them over to the people of other lands.
31“Even so, because of your great mercy, you did not completely destroy them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God who keeps his covenant and shows unfailing love, please don’t consider all the suffering that has come upon us as trivial. This suffering has affected our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, from the time of the kings of Assyria until today.
33However, you are right in all that has happened to us, for you have been faithful, but we have acted wickedly.
34Also, our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors did not follow your law, nor did they listen to your commands and warnings that you gave them.
35They did not serve you in their kingdom, despite the great goodness you showed them and the large, rich land you gave them. They did not turn away from their evil deeds.
36“Look, today we are servants, and concerning the land you gave our ancestors so they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness—we are now servants in it.
37It produces much harvest for the kings you have placed over us because of our sins. They have power over our bodies and our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.”
38Yet, despite all this, we are making a firm agreement and writing it down, and our leaders, Levites, and priests are putting their seals on it.