HOLY BIBLE: Nehemiah 9 (original) (raw)

1 καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εἰκοστῇ καὶ τετάρτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς τούτου συνήχθησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἐν νηστείᾳ καὶ ἐν σάκκοις 2 καὶ ἐχωρίσθησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἀπὸ παντὸς υἱοῦ ἀλλοτρίου καὶ ἔστησαν καὶ ἐξηγόρευσαν τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς ἀνομίας τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν 3 καὶ ἔστησαν ἐπὶ στάσει αὐτῶν καὶ ἀνέγνωσαν ἐν βιβλίῳ νόμου κυρίου θεοῦ αὐτῶν καὶ ἦσαν ἐξαγορεύοντες τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ προσκυνοῦντες τῷ κυρίῳ θεῷ αὐτῶν 4 καὶ ἔστη ἐπὶ ἀναβάσει τῶν Λευιτῶν Ἰησοῦς καὶ υἱοὶ Καδμιηλ Σαχανια υἱὸς Σαραβια υἱοὶ Χανανι καὶ ἐβόησαν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ πρὸς κύριον τὸν θεὸν αὐτῶν

1 Then, on the twenty-fourth day of this same month, the men of Israel met together, fasting, and with sackcloth about them, and sprinkled with dust, 2 and the whole breed of Israel severed itself from all contact with alien folk. They met to confess their sins, and all the guilt their fathers had brought on them. 3 The day was divided into four parts; first they would stand in their places, while the terms of the Divine law were read to them, then they would make confession, and offer worship to the Lord their God. 4 It was for the Levites to mount upon the pulpit, Josue, Bani, Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias (Bani), and Chanani, and cry out in a loud voice to the Lord their God.

1 In die autem vigesimo quarto mensis hujus, convenerunt filii Israël in jejunio et in saccis, et humus super eos. 2 Et separatum est semen filiorum Israël ab omni filio alienigena: et steterunt, et confitebantur peccata sua, et iniquitates patrum suorum. 3 Et consurrexerunt ad standum: et legerunt in volumine legis Domini Dei sui, quater in die, et quater confitebantur, et adorabant Dominum Deum suum. 4 Surrexerunt autem super gradum Levitarum Josue, et Bani, et Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias, Bani, et Chanani: et clamaverunt voce magna ad Dominum Deum suum.

5 καὶ εἴποσαν οἱ Λευῖται Ἰησοῦς καὶ Καδμιηλ ἀνάστητε εὐλογεῖτε τὸν κύριον θεὸν ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ εὐλογήσουσιν ὄνομα δόξης σου καὶ ὑψώσουσιν ἐπὶ πάσῃ εὐλογίᾳ καὶ αἰνέσει 6 καὶ εἶπεν Εσδρας σὺ εἶ αὐτὸς κύριος μόνος σὺ ἐποίησας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν στάσιν αὐτῶν τὴν γῆν καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτῇ τὰς θαλάσσας καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐταῖς καὶ σὺ ζωοποιεῖς τὰ πάντα καὶ σοὶ προσκυνοῦσιν αἱ στρατιαὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν 7 σὺ εἶ κύριος ὁ θεός σὺ ἐξελέξω ἐν Αβραμ καὶ ἐξήγαγες αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς χώρας τῶν Χαλδαίων καὶ ἐπέθηκας αὐτῷ ὄνομα Αβρααμ 8 καὶ εὗρες τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ πιστὴν ἐνώπιόν σου καὶ διέθου πρὸς αὐτὸν διαθήκην δοῦναι αὐτῷ τὴν γῆν τῶν Χαναναίων καὶ Χετταίων καὶ Αμορραίων καὶ Φερεζαίων καὶ Ιεβουσαίων καὶ Γεργεσαίων καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔστησας τοὺς λόγους σου ὅτι δίκαιος σύ 9 καὶ εἶδες τὴν ταπείνωσιν τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ τὴν κραυγὴν αὐτῶν ἤκουσας ἐπὶ θάλασσαν ἐρυθράν 10 καὶ ἔδωκας σημεῖα ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐν Φαραω καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν παντὶ τῷ λαῷ τῆς γῆς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἔγνως ὅτι ὑπερηφάνησαν ἐ{P'} αὐτούς καὶ ἐποίησας σεαυτῷ ὄνομα ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη

5 …This was the prayer offered by the Levites, Josue, Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia, Odaia, Sebnia and Phathahia. Up, friends, and bless the Lord your God, as blessed he must be from the beginning to the end of time! Blessed be thy glorious name, O Lord, that is beyond all blessing, and all praise! 6 Heaven is of thy fashioning, and the heaven of heavens, and all the hosts that dwell there, earth and sea, and all that earth and sea hold; to all these thou givest the life they have; none so high in heaven but must pay thee worship. 7 It was thou, Lord God, that didst make choice of Abram, and beckon him away from Chaldaea, from the City of Fire.[1] And now thou wouldst call him Abraham; 8 a loyal servant thou didst find him, and didst make a covenant with him, promising that his race should inherit the lands of Chanaanite and Hethite, Amorrhite and Pherezite, Jebusite and Gergesite. That promise, in thy faithfulness, thou didst make good. 9 Thou hadst an eye for the affliction our fathers suffered in Egypt, an ear for their cry of distress at the Red Sea; 10 the pride of Pharao and Pharao’s court and all his people had not passed unregarded; there were portents, and marvels, and thy name won renown, as it has won renown this day.

5 Et dixerunt Levitæ Josue, et Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia, Odaia, Sebnia, Phathathia: Surgite, benedicite Domino Deo vestro ab æterno usque in æternum: et benedicant nomini gloriæ tuæ excelso in omni benedictione et laude. 6 Tu ipse, Domine, solus, tu fecisti cælum, et cælum cælorum, et omnem exercitum eorum: terram, et universa quæ in ea sunt: maria, et omnia quæ in eis sunt: et tu vivificas omnia hæc, et exercitus cæli te adorat. 7 Tu ipse, Domine Deus, qui elegisti Abram, et eduxisti eum de igne Chaldæorum, et posuisti nomen ejus Abraham: 8 et invenisti cor ejus fidele coram te, et percussisti cum eo fœdus ut dares ei terram Chananæi, Hethæi, et Amorrhæi, et Pherezæi, et Jebusæi, et Gergesæi, ut dares semini ejus: et implesti verba tua, quoniam justus es. 9 Et vidisti afflictionem patrum nostrorum in Ægypto, clamoremque eorum audisti super mare Rubrum. 10 Et dedisti signa atque portenta in Pharaone, et in universis servis ejus, et in omni populo terræ illius: cognovisti enim quia superbe egerant contra eos: et fecisti tibi nomen, sicut et in hac die.

16 καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ὑπερηφανεύσαντο καὶ ἐσκλήρυναν τὸν τράχηλον αὐτῶν καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν τῶν ἐντολῶν σου 17 καὶ ἀνένευσαν τοῦ εἰσακοῦσαι καὶ οὐκ ἐμνήσθησαν τῶν θαυμασίων σου ὧν ἐποίησας με{T'} αὐτῶν καὶ ἐσκλήρυναν τὸν τράχηλον αὐτῶν καὶ ἔδωκαν ἀρχὴν ἐπιστρέψαι εἰς δουλείαν αὐτῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ σὺ θεὸς ἐλεήμων καὶ οἰκτίρμων μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος καὶ οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπες αὐτούς 18 ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἐποίησαν ἑαυτοῖς μόσχον χωνευτὸν καὶ εἶπαν οὗτοι οἱ θεοὶ οἱ ἐξαγαγόντες ἡμᾶς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἐποίησαν παροργισμοὺς μεγάλους 19 καὶ σὺ ἐν οἰκτιρμοῖς σου τοῖς πολλοῖς οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπες αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τὸν στῦλον τῆς νεφέλης οὐκ ἐξέκλινας ἀ{P'} αὐτῶν ἡμέρας ὁδηγῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ καὶ τὸν στῦλον τοῦ πυρὸς τὴν νύκτα φωτίζειν αὐτοῖς τὴν ὁδόν ἐν ᾗ πορεύσονται ἐν αὐτῇ 20 καὶ τὸ πνεῦμά σου τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἔδωκας συνετίσαι αὐτοὺς καὶ τὸ μαννα σοῦ οὐκ ἀφυστέρησας ἀπὸ στόματος αὐτῶν καὶ ὕδωρ ἔδωκας αὐτοῖς τῷ δίψει αὐτῶν 21 καὶ τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη διέθρεψας αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ οὐχ ὑστέρησαν ἱμάτια αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐπαλαιώθησαν καὶ πόδες αὐτῶν οὐ διερράγησαν

16 But now our fathers sinned through pride in their turn; spurned the yoke, and would not listen to thy commandments. 17 No memory of the wondrous protection thou hadst given them could win their obedience; they would spurn the yoke, and take their own defiant path, the path that led back to slavery. But thou, a God so indulgent, so kind, so merciful, so patient, so pitying, wouldst not abandon them; 18 not even when they made a molten calf, and hailed it very blasphemously as the God that had rescued them from Egypt; 19 still in thy great mercy thou wouldst not cast them off in the desert. Never lacked they by day the pillar of cloud that led them, never by night the pillar of fire that shone upon their path; 20 still thy gracious spirit gave its warnings, still thou wouldst not refuse manna to feed them, water to quench their thirst. 21 All those forty years in the desert thou didst feed them, and nothing did they lack; never a garment threadbare, never a foot sore with travel.

16 Ipsi vero et patres nostri superbe egerunt, et induraverunt cervices suas, et non audierunt mandata tua. 17 Et noluerunt audire, et non sunt recordati mirabilium tuorum quæ feceras eis. Et induraverunt cervices suas, et dederunt caput ut converterentur ad servitutem suam, quasi per contentionem. Tu autem, Deus propitius, clemens, et misericors, longanimis, et multæ miserationis, non dereliquisti eos, 18 et quidem cum fecissent sibi vitulum conflatilem, et dixissent: Iste est deus tuus, qui eduxit te de Ægypto: feceruntque blasphemias magnas: 19 tu autem in misericordiis tuis multis non dimisisti eos in deserto: columna nubis non recessit ab eis per diem ut duceret eos in viam, et columna ignis per noctem ut ostenderet eis iter per quod ingrederentur. 20 Et spiritum tuum bonum dedisti, qui doceret eos: et manna tuum non prohibuisti ab ore eorum, et aquam dedisti eis in siti. 21 Quadraginta annis pavisti eos in deserto, nihilque eis defuit: vestimenta eorum non inveteraverunt, et pedes eorum non sunt attriti.

22 καὶ ἔδωκας αὐτοῖς βασιλείας καὶ λαοὺς καὶ διεμέρισας αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐκληρονόμησαν τὴν γῆν Σηων βασιλέως Εσεβων καὶ τὴν γῆν Ωγ βασιλέως τοῦ Βασαν 23 καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτῶν ἐπλήθυνας ὡς τοὺς ἀστέρας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ εἰσήγαγες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν ἣν εἶπας τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκληρονόμησαν αὐτήν 24 καὶ ἐξέτριψας ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὴν γῆν τῶν Χαναναίων καὶ ἔδωκας αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς λαοὺς τῆς γῆς ποιῆσαι αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀρεστὸν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν 25 καὶ κατελάβοσαν πόλεις ὑψηλὰς καὶ ἐκληρονόμησαν οἰκίας πλήρεις πάντων ἀγαθῶν λάκκους λελατομημένους ἀμπελῶνας καὶ ἐλαιῶνας καὶ πᾶν ξύλον βρώσιμον εἰς πλῆθος καὶ ἐφάγοσαν καὶ ἐνεπλήσθησαν καὶ ἐλιπάνθησαν καὶ ἐτρύφησαν ἐν ἀγαθωσύνῃ σου τῇ μεγάλῃ

22 Whole kingdoms, whole nations thou didst subdue before them, to allot them lands of their own; nothing Sehon possessed, that reigned at Hesebon, or Og, that was king in Basan, but should be theirs. 23 By now, thou hadst given increase to their race till they were countless as the stars in heaven; it was the fathers thou hadst first bidden to invade the land and take possession of it, 24 but it was their sons that reached the goal. At their coming, thou didst crush the pride of the Chanaanites that dwelt here, kings and people alike were a prey for the conqueror, left at his mercy. 25 So it was that our fathers gained cities well fortified, lands well tilled; houses full of all they needed, wells other men had dug for them, vineyard and olive-yard and orchard already planted. Now they might eat their fill, glut their appetites with all the good things thy mercy had bestowed.

22 Et dedisti eis regna, et populos, et partitus es eis sortes: et possederunt terram Sehon, et terram regis Hesebon, et terram Og regis Basan. 23 Et multiplicasti filios eorum sicut stellas cæli, et adduxisti eos ad terram de qua dixeras patribus eorum ut ingrederentur et possiderent. 24 Et venerunt filii, et possederunt terram, et humiliasti coram eis habitatores terræ Chananæos, et dedisti eos in manu eorum, et reges eorum, et populos terræ, ut facerent eis sicut placebant illis. 25 Ceperunt itaque urbes munitas et humum pinguem, et possederunt domos plenas cunctis bonis: cisternas ab aliis fabricatas, vineas, et oliveta, et ligna pomifera multa: et comederunt, et saturati sunt, et impinguati sunt, et abundaverunt deliciis in bonitate tua magna.

26 καὶ ἤλλαξαν καὶ ἀπέστησαν ἀπὸ σοῦ καὶ ἔρριψαν τὸν νόμον σου ὀπίσω σώματος αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς προφήτας σου ἀπέκτειναν οἳ διεμαρτύραντο ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐπιστρέψαι αὐτοὺς πρὸς σέ καὶ ἐποίησαν παροργισμοὺς μεγάλους 27 καὶ ἔδωκας αὐτοὺς ἐν χειρὶ θλιβόντων αὐτούς καὶ ἔθλιψαν αὐτούς καὶ ἀνεβόησαν πρὸς σὲ ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως αὐτῶν καὶ σὺ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ σου ἤκουσας καὶ ἐν οἰκτιρμοῖς σου τοῖς μεγάλοις ἔδωκας αὐτοῖς σωτῆρας καὶ ἔσωσας αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς θλιβόντων αὐτούς 28 καὶ ὡς ἀνεπαύσαντο ἐπέστρεψαν ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιόν σου καὶ ἐγκατέλιπες αὐτοὺς εἰς χεῖρας ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν καὶ κατῆρξαν ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ πάλιν ἀνεβόησαν πρὸς σέ καὶ σὺ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εἰσήκουσας καὶ ἐρρύσω αὐτοὺς ἐν οἰκτιρμοῖς σου πολλοῖς 29 καὶ ἐπεμαρτύρω αὐτοῖς ἐπιστρέψαι αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν νόμον σου καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν ἀλλὰ ἐν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς σου καὶ ἐν τοῖς κρίμασί σου ἡμάρτοσαν ἃ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἔδωκαν νῶτον ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ τράχηλον αὐτῶν ἐσκλήρυναν καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν 30 καὶ εἵλκυσας ἐ{P'} αὐτοὺς ἔτη πολλὰ καὶ ἐπεμαρτύρω αὐτοῖς ἐν πνεύματί σου ἐν χειρὶ προφητῶν σου καὶ οὐκ ἠνωτίσαντο καὶ ἔδωκας αὐτοὺς ἐν χειρὶ λαῶν τῆς γῆς 31 καὶ σὺ ἐν οἰκτιρμοῖς σου τοῖς πολλοῖς οὐκ ἐποίησας αὐτοὺς συντέλειαν καὶ οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπες αὐτούς ὅτι ἰσχυρὸς εἶ καὶ ἐλεήμων καὶ οἰκτίρμων

26 Then it was they defied thy anger, thy worship forsaken, thy laws forgotten, and slew the prophets that adjured them to come back to thee. And thou, in return for such foul impieties, 27 didst give their enemies the mastery over them, till they fell into sore distress. But when, in their misery, they cried out to thee, thou, in heaven, didst not refuse them audience; ever thou wouldst send, of thy great mercy, a champion to bring them rescue. 28 Still the days of peace saw them defying thy will, until thou must needs put them at their enemies’ mercy; still their repentant cries reached thy hearing, and won them merciful deliverance. 29 And thou, all the while, wast pleading with them to return to thy allegiance, while they, too proud to heed thy bidding, transgressed the commandments that bring man life; always the unwilling shoulder, the stubborn neck, the deaf ear. 30 Through long years thy patience lasted, and thou wast content to warn them through inspiration given to thy prophets; then at last, when these went unheard, thou didst give thy people up into the hands of the Gentiles. 31 And even so, in thy clemency, thou wouldst not make an end of us; even now thou hast not abandoned us, so pitying, so merciful a God thou art.

26 Provocaverunt autem te ad iracundiam, et recesserunt a te, et projecerunt legem tuam post terga sua: et prophetas tuos occiderunt, qui contestabantur eos ut reverterentur ad te: feceruntque blasphemias grandes. 27 Et dedisti eos in manu hostium suorum, et afflixerunt eos. Et in tempore tribulationis suæ clamaverunt ad te, et tu de cælo audisti, et secundum miserationes tuas multas dedisti eis salvatores, qui salvarent eos de manu hostium suorum. 28 Cumque requievissent, reversi sunt ut facerent malum in conspectu tuo, et dereliquisti eos in manu inimicorum suorum, et possederunt eos. Conversique sunt, et clamaverunt ad te: tu autem de cælo exaudisti, et liberasti eos in misericordiis tuis, multis temporibus. 29 Et contestatus es eos ut reverterentur ad legem tuam. Ipsi vero superbe egerunt, et non audierunt mandata tua, et in judiciis tuis peccaverunt, quæ faciet homo, et vivet in eis: et dederunt humerum recedentem, et cervicem suam induraverunt, nec audierunt. 30 Et protraxisti super eos annos multos, et contestatus es eos in spiritu tuo per manum prophetarum tuorum: et non audierunt, et tradidisti eos in manu populorum terrarum. 31 In misericordiis autem tuis plurimis non fecisti eos in consumptionem, nec dereliquisti eos: quoniam Deus miserationum et clemens es tu.

32 καὶ νῦν ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὁ ἰσχυρὸς ὁ μέγας ὁ κραταιὸς καὶ ὁ φοβερὸς φυλάσσων τὴν διαθήκην σου καὶ τὸ ἔλεός σου μὴ ὀλιγωθήτω ἐνώπιόν σου πᾶς ὁ μόχθος ὃς εὗρεν ἡμᾶς καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἡμῶν καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἡμῶν καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἡμῶν καὶ τοὺς προφήτας ἡμῶν καὶ τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν καὶ ἐν παντὶ τῷ λαῷ σου ἀπὸ ἡμερῶν βασιλέων Ασσουρ καὶ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης 33 καὶ σὺ δίκαιος ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἐρχομένοις ἐ{F'} ἡμᾶς ὅτι ἀλήθειαν ἐποίησας καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐξημάρτομεν 34 καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς ἡμῶν καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ἡμῶν καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς ἡμῶν καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐποίησαν τὸν νόμον σου καὶ οὐ προσέσχον τῶν ἐντολῶν σου καὶ τὰ μαρτύριά σου ἃ διεμαρτύρω αὐτοῖς 35 καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν βασιλείᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ἀγαθωσύνῃ σου τῇ πολλῇ ᾗ ἔδωκας αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ τῇ πλατείᾳ καὶ λιπαρᾷ ᾗ ἔδωκας ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐδούλευσάν σοι καὶ οὐκ ἀπέστρεψαν ἀπὸ ἐπιτηδευμάτων αὐτῶν τῶν πονηρῶν 36 ἰδού ἐσμεν σήμερον δοῦλοι καὶ ἡ γῆ ἣν ἔδωκας τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν φαγεῖν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῆς 37 τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν οἷς ἔδωκας ἐ{F'} ἡμᾶς ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ σώματα ἡμῶν ἐξουσιάζουσιν καὶ ἐν κτήνεσιν ἡμῶν ὡς ἀρεστὸν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐν θλίψει μεγάλῃ ἐσμέν 38 καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις ἡμεῖς διατιθέμεθα πίστιν καὶ γράφομεν καὶ ἐπισφραγίζουσιν πάντες ἄρχοντες ἡμῶν Λευῖται ἡμῶν ἱερεῖς ἡμῶν

32 To thee, then, we turn, who art our God, to thee, the great, the strong, the terrible God, who dost not forget thy covenant, or the mercy thou hast promised. Do not think scorn of all the misery that has come upon us, king and prince, priest and prophet, in our fathers’ time and since, from the day when the king of Assyria became our enemy. 33 The fault was never thine, if all this has overtaken us; thine the faithfulness, ours the unnatural rebellion. 34 King and prince and priest together, our fathers have neglected thy law; the decrees thou hadst enjoined, the warning thou gavest, went alike unheeded. 35 The royal majesty, the blessings showered on them, the wide domains thou didst subdue at their onslaught, were not enough to win obedience from them, or recall them from their rebellious ways. 36 Here are we, this day, living as slaves; here are the wide lands, the rich lands thou gavest to our fathers, to till and to enjoy, and we are living on them in slavery. 37 The harvests ripen for alien kings, our masters now in punishment of our guilt; our bodies, our beasts are theirs, to treat as they will, and oppression is all about us. 38 In such a plight we turn to thee, binding ourselves by a covenant; that covenant we here record in writing, rulers and Levites and priests have set their names to it.

32 Nunc itaque Deus noster magne, fortis et terribilis, custodiens pactum et misericordiam, ne avertas a facie tua omnem laborem, qui invenit nos, reges nostros, et principes nostros, et sacerdotes nostros, et prophetas nostros, et patres nostros, et omnem populum tuum a diebus regis Assur usque in diem hanc. 33 Et tu justus es in omnibus quæ venerunt super nos: quia veritatem fecisti, nos autem impie egimus. 34 Reges nostri, principes nostri, sacerdotes nostri et patres nostri non fecerunt legem tuam, et non attenderunt mandata tua, et testimonia tua quæ testificatus es in eis. 35 Et ipsi in regnis suis, et in bonitate tua multa quam dederas eis, et in terra latissima et pingui quam tradideras in conspectu eorum, non servierunt tibi, nec reversi sunt a studiis suis pessimis. 36 Ecce nos ipsi hodie servi sumus: et terra quam dedisti patribus nostris ut comederent panem ejus, et quæ bona sunt ejus, et nos ipsi servi sumus in ea. 37 Et fruges ejus multiplicantur regibus quos posuisti super nos propter peccata nostra: et corporibus nostris dominantur, et jumentis nostris secundum voluntatem suam: et in tribulatione magna sumus. 38 Super omnibus ergo his nos ipsi percutimus fœdus, et scribimus: et signant principes nostri, Levitæ nostri, et sacerdotes nostri.