³²“Our God, you are great, mighty and wonderful. You keep the covenant you made with us. You show us your love. So don’t let all of our suffering seem like a small thing in your sight. We’ve suffered greatly. So have our kings and leaders. So have our priests and prophets. Our people who lived long ago also suffered. And all of your people are suffering right now. In fact, we’ve been suffering from the time of the kings of Assyria until today.

³³“In spite of everything that has happened to us, you have been fair. You have been faithful in what you have done. But we did what was wrong. ³⁴Our kings and leaders didn’t follow your law. Our priests and our people before us didn’t follow it either. They didn’t pay any attention to your commands. They didn’t listen to the warnings you gave them. ³⁵They didn’t serve you. They didn’t turn from their evil ways. They didn’t obey you even when they had a kingdom. You were very good to them. And they enjoyed it. You gave them a rich land. It had plenty of room in it. But they still didn’t serve you.

³⁶“Now look at us. We are slaves today. We’re slaves in the land you gave our people long ago. You gave it to them so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. ³⁷But we have sinned against you. So its great harvest goes to the kings of Persia. You have placed them over us. They rule over our bodies and cattle just as they please. And we are suffering terribly.

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