AncientWord

1 So the Lord fulfilled His word that He had spoken against us, against our judges who governed Israel, against our kings and our princes, and against the people of Israel and Judah.

2 He brought upon us great calamity, such as has never happened under the whole heaven—just as He did in Jerusalem, according to what was written in the Law of Moses:

3 that we would eat the flesh of our sons and the flesh of our daughters.

4 He gave them into the hands of all the kingdoms around us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the surrounding peoples, where the Lord has scattered them.

5 They were brought low and not lifted up, because we sinned against the Lord our God, and did not listen to His voice.

6 Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but shame of face, as on this day, belongs to us—the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

7 our kings, our rulers, our priests, our prophets, and our ancestors—

8 because we have sinned before the Lord.

9 We have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments that He gave us openly.

10 From the day the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God and have acted carelessly by not listening to His voice.

11 So disasters have clung to us, and the curse that the Lord declared through Moses His servant, when He brought our ancestors out of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey—just as it is today.

12 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God according to all the words of the prophets whom He sent to us.

13 Each of us went after the intent of his evil heart, serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

14 Therefore, the Lord has kept watch over the calamity and brought it upon us. For the Lord is righteous in all the works He has commanded us, and we have not listened to His voice.

15 And now, O Lord God of Israel, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, with signs and wonders, with great power and an outstretched arm, and made Yourself a name to this day:

16 We have sinned. We have acted ungodly. We have done wrong, O Lord our God, in all Your righteousness.

17 Let Your anger turn away from us, for we are left few in number among the nations where You have scattered us.

18 Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our petition, and for Your own sake deliver us, and give us favor before those who have taken us into exile.

19 That all the earth may know that You are the Lord our God, for Israel and its people are called by Your name.

20 O Lord, look down from Your holy dwelling, and consider us. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear.

21 Open Your eyes and see, for the dead who are in the grave—whose breath is taken from their bodies—cannot declare the glory and righteousness of the Lord.

22 But the soul that is greatly grieved, that walks stooped and weak, that has weary eyes and a hungry soul, will declare Your glory and righteousness, O Lord.

23 For we do not pray before You because of the righteousness of our ancestors and our kings.

24 For You have sent Your wrath and indignation upon us, just as You spoke by Your servants the prophets, saying:

25 “This says the Lord: Bow your shoulders and serve the king of Babylon, and you will remain in the land that I gave to your ancestors.

26 But if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord and serve the king of Babylon,

27 I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from outside Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. The whole land shall become a desolate ruin, without inhabitants.”

28 But we did not listen to Your voice, to serve the king of Babylon. Therefore You have fulfilled the words You spoke by Your servants the prophets: that the bones of our kings and ancestors would be taken out of their graves.

29 And behold, they have been thrown out into the heat of the day and the frost of the night. They died in great suffering, by famine, by sword, and by plague.

30 And You have made the temple, which bears Your name, as it is this day—because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

31 But now, O Lord our God, You have dealt with us in all Your kindness and great compassion,

32 just as You spoke by Your servant Moses, on the day You commanded him to write Your law in the presence of the Israelites, saying:

33 “If you do not listen to My voice, this very great and many-voiced multitude will be turned into a small number among the nations, where I will scatter them.

34 I know that they will not listen to Me, for they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile they will come to their senses

35 and know that I am the Lord their God. I will give them a heart that understands and ears that hear.

36 They will praise Me in the land of their exile, and will remember My name.

37 They will turn from their stubbornness and their evil deeds, for they will remember the way of their ancestors, who sinned before the Lord.

38 I will bring them again into the land that I promised with an oath to their ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and they will take possession of it. I will increase them, and they will not be diminished.

39 I will make with them an everlasting covenant: that I will be their God and they shall be My people. I will never again remove My people Israel from the land that I have given them.