1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, sackcloth, and earth upon them. 2And the descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the transgressions of their fathers. 3And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God. 4Then of the Levites, Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, stood upon the stairs, and cried with a loud voice unto 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, for ever and ever; and blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6“You, and You alone, are LORD; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are in it, the seas, and all that is in them, and You preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships You. 7You are the LORD, the God Who did choose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name of Abraham; 8And found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and the Girgashites - to give it, I say, to his (Abraham’s) descendants, and have fulfilled all Your words; for You are righteous, 9And You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red sea; 10And You displayed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and all the people of his land; for You knew that they dealt arrogantly against them (Israel). And You did get a name for Yourself as it is this day. 11And You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors You threw into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters. 12And 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 that they should go. 13You also came down upon Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances, true laws, good statutes and commandments; 14And You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, and gave them commandments, precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses, Your servant; 15And You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should go in to possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

16“But they and our fathers dealt arrogantly, and stiffened their necks, and would not listen to Your commandments, 17And refused to obey, nor were they mindful of Your wonders that You did among them; but stiffened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and You did not forsake them. 18Yea, when they had made them a melted calf, and said, ‘This is your god that brought you up out of Egypt’, and had committed great provocations, 19Yet You, in Your manifold mercies, did not forsake them in the wilderness: the pillar of the 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. 20You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. 21Yea, forty years did You sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell. 22Moreover, You gave them kingdoms and nations, and distributed them into corners; so they possessed the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan. 23 You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land which You had promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. 24So the children went in and possessed the land, and You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into the hands of Your people, with their kings, and the people of the land, to do with them as they would. 25And they captured fortified cities, and a fertile land, and possessed houses full of many goods, cisterns hewn out, vineyards, olive yards, and fruit trees in abundance; so they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

26“Yet they were disobedient, and rebelled against You, and cast Your law behind their backs, killed Your prophets who warned them to return to You, and they committed other great provocations. 27Therefore, You handed them over to their enemies, who vexed them; and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto You, You heard them from heaven; and according to Your manifold mercies, You sent them people who rescued them from their enemies. 28But as soon as they had relief, they again did evil before You. Therefore, You left them in the hand of their enemies, who oppressed them. Yet when they returned, and cried unto You, You heard them from heaven; and many times You delivered them according to Your mercies; 29And You warned them, to bring them to Your law again; and still, they dealt arrogantly, and ignored Your commandments, and sinned against Your ordinances (which if kept, one shall live), and turned a stubborn shoulder, stiffened their neck, and would not hear. 30Yet for many years You were patient with them, and admonished them by Your Spirit by Your prophets. And still they would not listen; therefore, You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31Nevertheless, for Your great mercies' sake, You did not utterly destroy, nor forsake them; for You are a gracious and merciful God.

32“Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awe-inspiring God, Who keeps the covenant with lovingkindness, do not let all our trouble that has come upon us, on our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and on all Your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day, seem little before You. 33However, You are just in all that You have brought upon us; for You have dealt faithfully with us, while we have done wickedly; 34Neither have our kings, our leaders, our priests, nor our fathers, kept Your law, nor abided by Your commandments and Your warnings, by which You testified against them. 35For they have not served You in their own kingdom - in a large and fertile land that You set before them, that in Your great goodness You gave them - nor have they turned from their wicked deeds. 36But now we are slaves in that land, that You gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its abundant produce. And now we are servants in it; 37And, because of our sins, it yields its abundant harvest to the kings whom You have set over us. They also rule over our bodies, and over our cattle, as they please, and we are in great distress.

38“And now, because of all this, we are making a sure and binding covenant, in writing; and our leaders, Levites, and priests, affix their seal to the document.”