3
While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.
4
Now on the Levites'platformstoodJeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loudvoice to the LORD their God.
5
Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, "Arise, bless the LORD your Godforever* and ever! O may Your gloriousname be blessed And exaltedaboveallblessing and praise!
6
"You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You givelife to all of them And the heavenlyhostbowsdown before You.
8
"You found his heartfaithfulbefore You, And made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite - To give it to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous.
10
"Then You performedsigns and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that they actedarrogantlytoward them, And made a name for Yourself as it is thisday.
11
"You divided the seabefore them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dryground; And their pursuers You hurled into the depths, Like a stone into ragingwaters.
15
"You providedbread from heaven for them for their hunger, You broughtforthwater from a rock for them for their thirst, And You told them to enter in order to possess The landwhich You swore* to give them.
17
"They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrousdeedswhich You had performedamong them; So they became*stubborn* and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.
19
You, in Your greatcompassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave** them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.
22
"You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And allotted them to them as a boundary. They tookpossession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
24
"So their sonsentered and possessed the land. And You subduedbefore them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, To do with them as they desired.
25
"They capturedfortifiedcities and a fertileland. They tookpossession of housesfull of everygoodthing, Hewncisterns, vineyards, olivegroves, Fruittrees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and grewfat, And reveled in Your greatgoodness.
26
"But they becamedisobedient and rebelled against You, And cast Your lawbehind their backs And killed Your prophetswho had admonished them So that they might return to You, And they committedgreatblasphemies.
27
"Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your greatcompassion You gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.
28
"But as soon as they hadrest, they didevilagainbefore You; Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them. When they criedagain to You, You heard from heaven, And manytimes You rescued them according to Your compassion,
29
And admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet they actedarrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By which if a manobserves them he shall live. And they turned a stubbornshoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30
"However, You bore with them for manyyears, And admonished them by Your Spiritthrough Your prophets, Yet they would not giveear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
32
"Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesomeGod, who keepscovenant and lovingkindness, Do not let all the hardshipseeminsignificantbefore You, Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, From the days of the kings of Assyria to thisday.
34
"For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law Or paidattention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.
35
"But they, in their own kingdom, With Your greatgoodnesswhich You gave them, With the broad and richlandwhich You setbefore them, Did not serve You or turn from their evildeeds.
37
"Its abundantproduce is for the kingsWhom You have setover us because of our sins; They also ruleover our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in greatdistress.
38
"Now because of allthis We are making an agreement in writing; And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests."