The People Confess Their Sins
The people assemble in fasting and public repentance, separate themselves, hear the Law at length, and confess before God. The Levites then take their place and call the assembly to bless the LORD without end.
O1n the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads. 2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God. 4And the Levites — Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani — stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God. 5Then the Levites— Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah— said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting:
The prayer begins with God's uniqueness as creator and covenant maker, then recalls Abraham, Egypt, the sea, the wilderness, and Sinai. God's guidance, commands, Sabbath, and provision are all remembered as gifts of faithful care.
6You alone are the LORD. 7You are the LORD, 8You found his heart faithful before You, 9You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; 10You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, 11You divided the sea before them, 12You led them with a pillar of cloud by day 13You came down on Mount Sinai 14You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath 15In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven;
Against God's steady mercy, the fathers grow stubborn, forgetful, and idolatrous. Yet God remains compassionate, gives his Spirit, sustains them in the wilderness, multiplies them, and brings them into a rich land.
16But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked 17They refused to listen and failed to remember 18Even when they cast for themselves 19You in Your great compassion 20You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. 21For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, 22You gave them kingdoms and peoples 23You multiplied their descendants 24So their descendants went in and possessed the land; 25They captured fortified cities and fertile land
Once settled in the land, the people rebel, kill the prophets, and fall under oppressors. Again and again God hears their cries, rescues them, warns them, and bears with them, refusing to make a full end of them.
26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; 27So You delivered them into the hands 28But as soon as they had rest, 29You admonished them to turn back to Your law, 30You were patient with them for many years, 31But in Your great compassion,
The prayer turns from memory to the present, asking the great covenant-keeping God to regard their trouble. The people confess that their rulers and fathers ignored God's goodness, admit the justice of their present servitude, and seal a written agreement.
32So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God 33You are just in all that has befallen us, 34Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers 35For even while they were in their kingdom, 36So here we are today as slaves 37Its abundant harvest goes to the kings 38In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”