16
O Lord, look down from thy holy habitation, and consider us. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear;
17
open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; for the dead who are in Hades, whose spirit has been taken from their bodies, will not ascribe glory or justice to the Lord,
18
but the person that is greatly distressed, that goes about bent over and feeble, and the eyes that are failing, and the person that hungers, will ascribe to thee glory and righteousness, O Lord.
19
For it is not because of any righteous deeds of our fathers or our kings that we bring before thee our prayer for mercy, O Lord our God.
20
For thou hast sent thy anger and thy wrath upon us, as thou didst declare by thy servants the prophets, saying:
21
"Thus says the Lord: Bend your shoulders and serve the king of Babylon, and you will remain in the land which I gave to your fathers.
22
But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord and will not serve the king of Babylon,
23
I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the region about Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the whole land will be a desolation without inhabitants."
24
"`But we did not obey thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon; and thou hast confirmed thy words, which thou didst speak by thy servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers would be brought out of their graves;
25
and behold, they have been cast out to the heat of day and the frost of night. They perished in great misery, by famine and sword and pestilence.
26
And the house which is called by thy name thou hast made as it is today, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.