1 And on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were gathered with fasting, in sackcloth {be-saqim: coarse mourning cloth} and earth {adama: dust from the ground} was upon them.
2 And the descendants {zera: offspring line} of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities {avonot: moral corruption} of their fathers.
3 And they stood in their places and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God {YHWH Eloheihim: Divine Lawgiver} for a fourth of the day, and for another fourth they were confessing {mitvadim: public admission} and worshiping the LORD their God.
4 And they stood on the stairway {ma‘aleh: raised place of approach} of the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebanyah, Bunni, Shereviyah, Bani, and Kenani—and they cried out with a loud voice to the LORD their God {YHWH Elohehem, Communal Protector}.
5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Chashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless {barkhu: bestow honor} the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikhem, Eternal Sustainer} from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.”
6 You are He, the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Creator}, alone. You made the heavens, the heaven of 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 bows down {mishtachavim: worships in reverence} to You.
7 You are He, the LORD God {YHWH Elohim, Divine Chooser}, who chose Abram and brought him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, and appointed his name Abraham {Avraham: Father of a Multitude}.
8 And You {YHWH, Covenant Initiator} found his heart faithful before You, and You made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite to his seed. And You kept Your word because You are righteous {tzaddiq: absolutely just}.
9 And You saw the affliction{ani: harsh oppression} of our fathers in Egypt and You heard their cry at the Sea of Reeds, O LORD{YHWH, Deliverer}.
10 And you gave signs {otot: divine proofs} and wonders against Pharaoh {Par‘o: Egyptian monarch} and against all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. And you made a name for yourself as it is this day.
11 And You {YHWH, Delivering Sovereign} divided the sea before them, and they crossed through its midst on dry ground; and their pursuers You hurled into the depths {mimtzu-lot: abyssal chasms}, like a stone in mighty waters.
12 And with a pillar of cloud You {YHWH, Guide Protector} led them by day, and with a pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way {derekh: journey pathway} which they were to go.
13 And upon Mount Sinai You {YHWH, Revealer of Covenant} descended and spoke to them from heaven, and You gave them upright judgments {mishpatim: just decisions} and true laws, statutes and good commandments.
14 And You {YHWH, Law Giver} made known to them Your holy Sabbath {shabbat: day of rest}, and gave them commandments, statutes, and law, commanding them by the hand of Moses Your servant.
15 And You {YHWH, Sustaining One} gave them bread {lechem: staple sustenance} from heaven for their hunger and brought forth water from a rock for their thirst; and You said to them to enter and possess the land which You had lifted up Your hand to give them.
16 But they and our fathers acted presumptuously {hizhidu: deliberate defiance} and stiffened their neck and did not listen to Your commandments, O LORD {YHWH, Covenant Authority}.
17 And they refused to listen, and they did not remember Your wonders {nifl’ot: extraordinary deeds} which You had done among them; they stiffened their neck, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are God {Eloah, Forgiving Redeemer}, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and You did not forsake them.
18 Even when they made for themselves a molten calf and said, “This is your God {Elohim, False Attribution} who brought you up from Egypt,” and they committed great blasphemies {ne’atsot: acts of outrageous insult}.
19 And You {YHWH, Ever-Present Sustainer}, in Your great compassions {rachamim: deep mercy}, did not abandon them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not turn away from above them by day to guide them on the way, nor did the pillar of fire by night give light to them and show them the way in which they should go.
20 And You {YHWH, Faithful Provider} gave Your good Spirit {ruach: divine breath} to instruct them, and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst.
21 And for forty years You {YHWH, Sustaining Provider} sustained them in the wilderness; they did not lack, and their garments {salmoteihem: protective coverings} did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.
22 And You {YHWH, Land Allocator} gave them kingdoms and peoples, and You allotted portions to them {chelek: apportioned} by boundaries, and they inherited the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan.
23 And their descendants you made as numerous as the stars of the heavens, and you brought them into the land that you had promised to their fathers {avot: ancestral forebears} to enter and possess {reshet: claim as inheritance}.
24 And the children entered and inherited the land {yarash: rightful possession}; You {YHWH, Divine Sustainer} subdued the inhabitants of the land—the Canaanites—before them and delivered them into their hand, together with their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they desired.
25 And they captured fortified cities and rich land, and they inherited houses filled with every good thing, hewn wells, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance; and they ate, and they were satisfied, and they became fat, and they delighted themselves in Your {YHWH: Covenant Sustainer} great goodness {tuvkha: generous provision}.
26 But they rebelled against You {YHWH, Covenant Keeper}, cast Your law {torah: divine instruction} behind their backs, and killed Your prophets who had testified against them to return them to You; and they committed great blasphemies.
27 And you gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they oppressed them. And at the time of their distress they cried out to you, and you {Attah: direct address} heard from heaven, and according to your many mercies {rachamim: deep compassion} you gave them deliverers, who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
28 And when they were at rest, they turned back to do evil before You {YHWH, Just Governor}, and You abandoned them into the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. When they cried out to You, You heard from heaven and delivered them according to Your mercies {rachamim: steadfast compassion}.
29 And you warned them to return to your law, but they acted presumptuously and did not listen to your commands. They sinned against your ordinances {mishpat: judicial rulings}, which, if a person does them, he will live by them. Yet they turned a stubborn shoulder {shekhem: symbol of refusal} and stiffened their necks and did not listen.
30 And you {YHWH, Patient Sustainer} prolonged your forbearance toward them for many years and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets, yet they did not listen, so you gave them into the hand of the peoples {ammei ha’aratzot: foreign nations}.
31 But in Your abundant mercies {rachamim: deep compassion}, You did not bring them to utter destruction, nor did You abandon them, for You are a gracious and merciful God {El-khanun: Compassionate Sovereign}.
32 And now, our God {Eloheinu, Covenant Upholder}, the great, mighty, and awesome God {El, Supreme Power}, who keeps the covenant and shows loyal love, do not let all the hardship that has come upon us—our kings, princes, priests, prophets, fathers, and all Your people—from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day, seem insignificant before You.
33 And You {YHWH, Faithful Upholder} are righteous {tsaddiq: Just Judge} concerning all that has come upon us, for You have acted truthfully, and we have acted wickedly.
34 And our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers did not keep your law {tōrāh: divine instruction}, nor did they obey your commandments {miṣwôt: binding directives} or your testimonies which you bore witness among them.
35 But they, in their kingdom and in your great goodness {tuv: abundant favor}, which you gave them, and in the broad and fertile land which you set before them, did not serve {avad: worship and obedience} you {YHWH, Sovereign Ruler}, nor did they turn from their evil deeds.
36 And behold, we are slaves today, and the land which You {YHWH, Bestower of Land} gave to our fathers {avoteinu: forefathers} to eat its fruit and its goodness, behold, we are slaves upon it.
37 And its produce increases for the kings {malkhim: foreign sovereigns} whom You {YHWH, Just Ruler} have set over us because of our sins, and they rule over our bodies and livestock as they please. We are in great distress.
38 And in all this we are making a binding agreement {amanah: formal covenant} and writing it, and upon the sealed document are our leaders, our Levites, and our priests {kohaneinu: Aaronic ministers}.