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"O Lord our God, we pray to you for mercy, but not because of any good things done by our ancestors and our kings.
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You turned your anger and wrath against us, just as you had threatened to do when your servants the prophets spoke your word to us and said,
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"Bend your backs and serve the king of Babylonia, and you can remain in the land that I gave to your ancestors.
1
22
But if you refuse to obey my command to serve him,
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I will bring to an end every sound of joy and celebration in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem. Even the happy sounds of wedding feasts will no longer be heard. The whole land will be desolate and uninhabited.'
24
"But we did not obey your command to serve the king of Babylonia, so you carried out the threat that you had made when you spoke through your servants the prophets, when you said that the bones of our kings and of our ancestors would be taken from their tombs and scattered.
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25
And now here they lie exposed to the heat of the day and to the frost of the night. They died in torment from famine, war, and disease.
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And because of the sin of the people of Israel and Judah, you have reduced your own Temple to ruins, even as it is today.
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"But, Lord, you have been patient with us and have shown us great mercy,
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as you promised through your servant Moses on the day you commanded him to write your Law in the presence of the Israelites.
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29
"If you do not obey me,' you said, "you will be reduced to a handful among the nations where I will scatter you.