The Nation Confesses

9 On the twenty-fourth day of this month the ⌊Israelites⌋a gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them. 2 Those of the seed of Israel separated themselves from all of the foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.b 3 They stood up in their place and read from the book of the lawc of Yahweh their God for a fourth part of the day, and for a fourth they were confessing and worshiping Yahweh their God. 4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani stood on the platform of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, “Stand up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting until everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name that is being exalted above all blessing and praise!

6 “You alone are Yahweh. You alone have made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all of their army, the earth and all that is in it, the waters and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and the army of the heavens worship you. 7 You are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—to give it to his seed. And you have kept your word because you are righteous.

9 “You saw the misery of our ancestorsd in Egypt, and you heard their shout at the Red Sea. 10 You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day. 11 And you divided the sea before them, and they passed through the sea on dry ground, but their pursuers you threw into the depths like a stone into mighty waters. 12 You led them by day with a column of cloud and with a column of fire by night, to give them light on the way that they were to go. 13 Then you came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right judgments and true teachings, good regulations and commandments. 14 You made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments, regulations, and lawe by the hand of your servant Moses. 15 You gave them bread from heaven for their starvation, and you caused water to go out from a rock for their thirst. You told them to go in order to take into possession the land that you have sworn by your hand to give to them.

16 “But they and our ancestorsf acted arrogantly and stiffened their neck and did not listen to your commandments. 17 They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders that you did among them. They stiffened their neck and in their rebellion ⌊determined⌋g to return to their slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, ⌊slow to anger⌋,h abundant in loyal love, so you did not abandon them. 18 Even when they made for themselves a molten idol of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you out from Egypt,’ and committed great blasphemies. 19 But you in your many mercies did not abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud that was over them in the day did not cease to lead them on the way, and the column of fire by night that gave light to them on the way that they went. 20 And you gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the desert—they were not in need. Their clothing did not wear out and their feet did not swell.