1 E, no dia vinte e quatro deste mês, ajuntaram-se os filhos de Israel com jejum e com sacos, e traziam terra sobre si.
2 E a descendência de Israel se apartou de todos os estrangeiros, e puseram-se em pé, e fizeram confissão pelos seus pecados e pelas iniqüidades de seus pais.
3 E, levantando-se no seu lugar, leram no livro da lei do Senhor seu Deus uma quarta parte do dia; e na outra quarta parte fizeram confissão, e adoraram ao Senhor seu Deus.
4 E Jesuá, Bani, Cadmiel, Sebanias, Buni, Serebias, Bani e Quenani se puseram em pé no lugar alto dos levitas, e clamaram em alta voz ao Senhor seu Deus.
5 E os levitas, Jesuá, Cadmiel, Bani, Hasabnéias, Serebias, Hodias, Sebanias e Petaías, disseram: Levantai-vos, bendizei ao Senhor vosso Deus de eternidade em eternidade; e bendigam o teu glorioso nome, que está exaltado sobre toda a bênção e louvor.
6 Só tu és Senhor; tu fizeste o céu, o céu dos céus, e todo o seu exército, a terra e tudo quanto nela há, os mares e tudo quanto neles há, e tu os guardas com vida a todos; e o exército dos céus te adora.
7 Tu és o Senhor, o Deus, que elegeste a Abrão, e o tiraste de Ur dos caldeus, e lhe puseste por nome Abraão.
8 E achaste o seu coração fiel perante ti, e fizeste com ele a aliança, de que darias à sua descendência a terra dos cananeus, dos heteus, dos amorreus, dos perizeus, dos jebuseus e dos girgaseus; e confirmaste as tuas palavras, porquanto és justo.
9 E viste a aflição de nossos pais no Egito, e ouviste o seu clamor junto ao Mar Vermelho.
10 E mostraste sinais e prodígios a Faraó, e a todos os seus servos, e a todo o povo da sua terra, porque soubeste que soberbamente os trataram; e assim adquiriste para ti nome, como hoje se vê.
11 E o mar fendeste perante eles, e passaram pelo meio do mar, em seco; e lançaste os seus perseguidores nas profundezas, como uma pedra nas águas violentas.
12 E guiaste-os de dia por uma coluna de nuvem, e de noite por uma coluna de fogo, para lhes iluminar o caminho por onde haviam de ir.
13 E sobre o monte Sinai desceste, e dos céus falaste com eles, e deste-lhes juízos retos e leis verdadeiras, estatutos e mandamentos bons.
14 E o teu santo sábado lhes fizeste conhecer; e preceitos, estatutos e lei lhes mandaste pelo ministério de Moisés, teu servo.
15 E pão dos céus lhes deste na sua fome, e água da penha lhes produziste na sua sede; e lhes disseste que entrassem para possuírem a terra pela qual alçaste a tua mão, que lhes havias de dar.
16 Porém eles e nossos pais se houveram soberbamente, e endureceram a sua cerviz, e não deram ouvidos aos teus mandamentos.
17 E recusaram ouvir-te, e não se lembraram das tuas maravilhas, que lhes fizeste, e endureceram a sua cerviz e, na sua rebelião, levantaram um capitão, a fim de voltarem para a sua servidão; porém tu, ó Deus perdoador, clemente e misericordioso, tardio em irar-te, e grande em beneficência, tu não os desamparaste.
18 Ainda mesmo quando eles fizeram para si um bezerro de fundição, e disseram: Este é o teu Deus, que te tirou do Egito; e cometeram grandes blasfêmias;
19 Todavia tu, pela multidão das tuas misericórdias, não os deixaste no deserto. A coluna de nuvem nunca se apartou deles de dia, para os guiar pelo caminho, nem a coluna de fogo de noite, para lhes iluminar; e isto pelo caminho por onde haviam de ir.
20 E deste o teu bom espírito, para os ensinar; e o teu maná não retiraste da sua boca; e água lhes deste na sua sede.
21 De tal modo os sustentaste quarenta anos no deserto; nada lhes faltou; as suas roupas não se envelheceram, e os seus pés não se incharam.
22 Também lhes deste reinos e povos, e os repartiste em porções; e eles possuíram a terra de Siom, a saber, a terra do rei de Hesbom, e a terra de Ogue, rei de Basã.
23 E multiplicaste os seus filhos como as estrelas do céu, e trouxeste-os à terra de que tinhas falado a seus pais que nela entrariam para a possuírem.
24 Assim os filhos entraram e possuíram aquela terra; e abateste perante eles os moradores da terra, os cananeus, e lhos entregaste na mão, como também os reis e os povos da terra, para fazerem deles conforme a sua vontade.
25 E tomaram cidades fortificadas e terra fértil, e possuíram casas cheias de toda a fartura, cisternas cavadas, vinhas e olivais, e árvores frutíferas, em abundância; e comeram e se fartaram e engordaram e viveram em delícias, pela tua grande bondade.
26 Porém se obstinaram, e se rebelaram contra ti, e lançaram a tua lei para trás das suas costas, e mataram os teus profetas, que protestavam contra eles, para que voltassem para ti; assim fizeram grandes abominações.
27 Por isso os entregaste na mão dos seus adversários, que os angustiaram; mas no tempo de sua angústia, clamando a ti, desde os céus tu ouviste; e segundo a tua grande misericórdia lhes deste libertadores que os libertaram da mão de seus adversários.
28 Porém, em tendo repouso, tornavam a fazer o mal diante de ti; e tu os deixavas na mão dos seus inimigos, para que dominassem sobre eles; e convertendo-se eles, e clamando a ti, tu os ouviste desde os céus, e segundo a tua misericórdia os livraste muitas vezes.
29 E testificaste contra eles, para que voltassem para a tua lei; porém eles se houveram soberbamente, e não deram ouvidos aos teus mandamentos, mas pecaram contra os teus juízos, pelos quais o homem que os cumprir viverá; viraram o ombro, endureceram a sua cerviz, e não quiseram ouvir.
30 Porém estendeste a tua benignidade sobre eles por muitos anos, e testificaste contra eles pelo teu Espírito, pelo ministério dos teus profetas; porém eles não deram ouvidos; por isso os entregaste nas mãos dos povos das terras.
31 Mas pela tua grande misericórdia os não destruíste nem desamparaste, porque és um Deus clemente e misericordioso.
32 Agora, pois, nosso Deus, o grande, poderoso e terrível Deus, que guardas a aliança e a beneficência, não tenhas em pouca conta toda a aflição que nos alcançou a nós, aos nossos reis, aos nossos príncipes, aos nossos sacerdotes, aos nossos profetas, aos nossos pais e a todo o teu povo, desde os dias dos reis da Assíria até ao dia de hoje.
33 Porém tu és justo em tudo quanto tem vindo sobre nós; porque tu tens agido fielmente, e nós temos agido impiamente.
34 E os nossos reis, os nossos príncipes, os nossos sacerdotes, e os nossos pais não guardaram a tua lei, e não deram ouvidos aos teus mandamentos e aos teus testemunhos, que testificaste contra eles.
35 Porque eles nem no seu reino, nem na muita abundância de bens que lhes deste, nem na terra espaçosa e fértil que puseste diante deles, te serviram, nem se converteram de suas más obras.
36 Eis que hoje somos servos; e até na terra que deste a nossos pais, para comerem o seu fruto e o seu bem, eis que somos servos nela.
37 E ela multiplica os seus produtos para os reis, que puseste sobre nós, por causa dos nossos pecados; e conforme a sua vontade dominam sobre os nossos corpos e sobre o nosso gado; e estamos numa grande angústia.
38 E, todavia fizemos uma firme aliança, e o escrevemos; e selaram-no os nossos príncipes, os nossos levitas e os nossos sacerdotes.
1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel came together, taking no food and putting haircloth and dust on their bodies.
2 And the seed of Israel made themselves separate from all the men of other nations, publicly requesting forgiveness for their sins and the wrongdoing of their fathers.
3 And for a fourth part of the day, upright in their places, they were reading from the book of the law of their God; and for a fourth part of the day they were requesting forgiveness and worshipping the Lord their God.
4 Then Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani took their places on the steps of the Levites, crying in a loud voice to the Lord their God.
5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, Get up and give praise to the Lord your God for ever and ever. Praise be to your great name which is lifted up high over all blessing and praise.
6 You are the Lord, even you only; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their armies, the earth and all things in it, the seas and everything in them; and you keep them from destruction: and the armies of heaven are your worshippers.
7 You are the Lord, the God, who took Abram and made him yours, guiding him from Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham;
8 You saw that his heart was true to you, and made an agreement with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite and the Girgashite, even to give it to his seed, and you have done what you said; for righteousness is yours:
9 And you saw the trouble of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry came to your ears by the Red Sea;
10 And you did signs and wonders on Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land; for you saw how cruel they were to them. So you got yourself a name as it is today.
11 By you the sea was parted before them, so that they went through the sea on dry land; and those who went after them went down into the deep, like a stone into great waters.
12 And you went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way they were to go.
13 And you came down on Mount Sinai, and your voice came to them from heaven, giving them right decisions and true laws, good rules and orders:
14 And you gave them word of your holy Sabbath, and gave them orders and rules and a law, by the hand of Moses your servant:
15 And you gave them bread from heaven when they were in need, and made water come out of the rock for their drink, and gave them orders to go in and take for their heritage the land which your hand had been lifted up to give them.
16 But they and our fathers, in their pride, made their necks stiff, and gave no attention to your orders,
17 And would not do them, and gave no thought to the wonders you had done among them; but made their necks stiff, and turning away from you, made a captain over themselves to take them back to their prison in Egypt: but you are a God of forgiveness, full of grace and pity, slow to wrath and great in mercy, and you did not give them up.
18 Even when they had made for themselves an ox of metal, and said, This is your God who took you up out of Egypt, and had done so much to make you angry;
19 Even then, in your great mercy, you did not give them up in the waste land: the pillar of cloud still went before them by day, guiding them on their way, and the pillar of fire by night, to give them light, and make clear the way they were to go.
20 And you gave your good spirit to be their teacher, and did not keep back your manna from their mouths, and gave them water when they had need of it.
21 Truly, for forty years you were their support in the waste land, and they were in need of nothing; their clothing did not get old or their feet become tired.
22 And you gave them kingdoms and peoples, making distribution to them in every part of the land: so they took for their heritage the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan.
23 And you made their children as great in number as the stars of heaven, and took them into the land, of which you had said to their fathers that they were to go in and take it for themselves.
24 So the children went in and took the land, and you overcame before them the people of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them up into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, so that they might do with them whatever it was their pleasure to do.
25 And they took walled towns and a fat land, and became the owners of houses full of all good things, water-holes cut in the rock, vine-gardens and olive-gardens and a wealth of fruit-trees: so they had food enough and became fat, and had joy in the good you gave them.
26 But they were hard-hearted, and went against your authority, turning their backs on your law, and putting to death your prophets, who gave witness against them with the purpose of turning them back again to you, and they did much to make you angry.
27 And so you gave them up into the hands of their haters who were cruel to them: and in the time of their trouble, when they made their prayer to you, you gave ear to them from heaven; and in your great mercy gave them saviours, who made them free from the hands of their haters.
28 But when they had rest, they did evil again before you: so you gave them into the hands of their haters, who had rule over them: but when they came back and made their prayer to you, you gave ear to them from heaven; again and again, in your mercy, you gave them salvation;
29 And gave witness against them so that you might make them come back again to your law: but their hearts were lifted up, and they gave no attention to your orders and went against your decisions (which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him), and turning their backs on you, made their necks stiff and did not give ear.
30 Year after year you put up with them, and gave witness against them by your spirit through your prophets: still they did not give ear: and so you gave them up into the hands of the peoples of the lands.
31 Even then, in your great mercy, you did not put an end to them completely, or give them up; for you are a God of grace and mercy.
32 And now, our God, the great, the strong, the God who is to be feared, who keeps faith and mercy, let not all this trouble seem small to you, which has come on us, and on our kings and our rulers and on our priests and our prophets and our fathers and on all your people from the time of the kings of Assyria till this day.
33 But still, you have been in the right in everything which has come on us; you have been true to us, but we have done evil:
34 And our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or given attention to your orders and your witness, with which you gave witness against them.
35 For they have not been your servants in their kingdom, and in all the good things you gave them, and in the great and fat land you gave them, and they have not been turned away from their evil-doing.
36 Now, today, we are servants, and as for the land which you gave to our fathers, so that the produce of it and the good might be theirs, see, we are servants in it:
37 And it gives much increase to the kings whom you have put over us because of our sins: and they have power over our bodies and over our cattle at their pleasure, and we are in great trouble.
38 And because of all this we are making an agreement in good faith, and putting it in writing; and our rulers, our Levites, and our priests are putting their names to it.