“ When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple,

“你的民以色列若得罪你，败在仇敌面前，又归向你，承认你的名，在这殿里祈求祷告，

“你的百姓以色列若得罪你，败在仇敌面前，却又归向你，宣认你的名，在这殿里向你祈求祷告，

“你的百姓以色列若得罪你，败在仇敌面前，却又归向你，宣认你的名，在这殿里向你祈求祷告，

“当你的以色列子民因得罪你而败在敌人手中时，如果他们回心转意归向你，承认你的名，在这殿里祈祷，

“你的子民以色列若是得罪了你，以致在仇敌面前被打败，又回转归向你，承认你的名，在这殿里向你祷告恳求的时候，

「你的民以色列若得罪你，敗在仇敵面前，又歸向你，承認你的名，在這殿裏祈求禱告，

「你的百姓以色列若得罪你，敗在仇敵面前，卻又歸向你，宣認你的名，在這殿裏向你祈求禱告，

「你的百姓以色列若得罪你，敗在仇敵面前，卻又歸向你，宣認你的名，在這殿裏向你祈求禱告，

「當你的以色列子民因得罪你而敗在敵人手中時，如果他們回心轉意歸向你，承認你的名，在這殿裡祈禱，

“你的子民以色列若是得罪了你，以致在仇敵面前被打敗，又回轉歸向你，承認你的名，在這殿裡向你禱告懇求的時候，

『你人民以色列若犯罪得罪了你，在仇敵面前被擊敗，又回轉過來歸向你，稱讚你的名，在這殿裏向你禱告懇求，

爾民以色列因獲罪爾、敗於敵前、若轉歸爾、而認爾名、在此室禱告祈求於爾、

如爾民以色列族、犯罪於爾、為敵所敗、厥後心歸乎爾、虔向此殿、以祈禱呼籲爾名、

如主之民以色列人、因獲罪於主、為敵所敗、厥後歸於主、認主之名、在此殿禱告祈求主、

“ Suppose your people Israel have lost the battle against their enemies. And suppose they’ve sinned against you. But they turn back to you and praise your name. They pray to you in this temple. And they ask you to help them.

“ When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house,

“ If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,

When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against you, and they return to you and praise your name, and they pray and plead with you for mercy in this temple,

“ When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and implore Your favor in this house,

“ When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple,

When thy people Israel are smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; if they turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house:

When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and praise Your name, and they pray and plead with You for mercy in this temple,

When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:

“ The time will come when your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help in this temple,

“ When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house;

I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.

The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.

Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away.“‘ But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors— their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me,which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies— then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin,I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

And I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands.

Look down from heaven and see, from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance.For a little while your people possessed your holy place, but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.We are yours from of old; but you have not ruled over them, they have not been called by your name.Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins.After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies?

Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions.That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

“ When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple,then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other godsand followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns.They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree.At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger.They worshiped idols, though the Lord had said,“ You shall not do this.”The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:“ Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God.They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them,“ Do not do as they do.”They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal.They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left,

The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant— all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.

Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my Godand prayed:“ I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.“ But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage.Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.“ But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commandsyou gave through your servants the prophets when you said:‘ The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other.Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’“ What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this.Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor?Lord, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God.And the Levites— Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah— said:“ Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”“ Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

“ Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying,‘ If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:“ Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.“ Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame— the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you.We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you.The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.“ Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.“ Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong.Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.“ Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us.