1 “‘Therefore the Lord has made good his word, which he pronounced against us and against our judges who judged Israel and against our kings and our princes and against the men of Israel and Judah, 2 to bring upon us great plagues, such as never happened under the whole heaven, yet came to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things which were written in the law of Moses, 3 so that a man would eat the flesh of his own son and the flesh of his own daughter. 4 Moreover, he has delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms which surround us, to be as a reproach and a desolation among all the surrounding peoples, where the Lord has scattered them. 5 Thus we were cast down and not exalted because we sinned against the Lord our God and have not been obedient to his voice. 6 To the Lord our God belongs righteousness, but to us and to our fathers open shame, as is clear on this day. 7 For all these plagues have come upon us, which the Lord has pronounced against us, 8 yet have we not prayed before the Lord, so that we might turn, each one from the imaginations of his wicked heart. 9 Therefore the Lord watched over us for evil and the Lord has brought it upon us; for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he has commanded us. 10 Yet we have not hearkened to his voice to walk in the commandments of the Lord which he has set before us.

11 “‘And now, O Lord God of Israel, who has brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and high arm, and with signs and wonders and great power, and has become renown, as is clear on this day: 12 O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have been ungodly, we have acted unrighteously, in all your ordinances. 13 Let your wrath turn from us, for we are but a few left among the heathen where you have scattered us. 14 Hear our prayers, O Lord, and our petitions, and deliver us for your own sake, and give us favor in the sight of those who have led us away, 15 so that all the earth may know that you are the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by your name. 16 O Lord, look down from your holy house and consider us; bow down your ear, O Lord, to hear us. 17 Open your eyes and behold, for the dead who are in the graves, whose souls are taken from their bodies, will give to the Lord neither praise nor righteousness; 18 but the soul which is greatly vexed, which goes stooping and feeble, and the eyes which fail, and the hungry soul, will give you praise and righteousness, O Lord. 19 Therefore we do not make our humble supplication before you, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers and our kings.

20 “‘For you have sent out your wrath and indignation upon us, as you have spoken by your servants the prophets, saying, 21 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Bow down your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon; so shall you remain in the land which I gave to your fathers. 22 But if you will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon, 23 I will cause to cease, out of the cites of Judah and from without Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the whole land shall be desolate of inhabitants.’” 24 But we would not heed your voice to serve the king of Babylon; therefore you have made good the words that you spoke by your servants the prophets, namely, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers should be taken out of their place. 25 And, lo, they are cast out to the heat of the day and to the frost of the night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence, 26 and the house which is called by your name you have laid waste, as is clear on this day, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 27 O Lord our God, you have dealt with us according to all your goodness and all your great mercy, 28 just as you spoke by your servant Moses in the day when you commanded him to write the law before the children of Israel, saying, 29 “If you will not hear my voice, surely this very great multitude shall be turned into a small number among the nations where I will scatter them. 30 For I knew that they would not hear me, because they are a stiff-necked people, but, in the land of their captivity, they shall remember themselves, 31 and shall know that I am the Lord their God, for I will give them a heart, and ears to hear, 32 and they shall praise me in the land of their captivity and think upon my name, 33 and repent from their stiff neck and from their wicked deeds; for they shall remember the way of their fathers, who sinned before the Lord. 34 And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be lords of it; and I will increase them and they shall not be diminished. 35 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God and they shall be my people; and I will no longer drive my people of Israel out of the land which I have given them.”’”