The People Confess Their Sins 1 UDB On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the people gathered together. They did not eat food for a while, and they wore clothes they made from bags used to carry wheat and other grains, and they put the dust of the earth on their heads. BSB BSB: On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.
2 UDB The descendants of Israel separated themselvses away from all the foreigners. They stood there and confessed their own sins and the wicked things their ancestors had done. BSB BSB: Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
3 UDB They stood and for three hours they read from the law of Yahweh, and for another three hours they spoke out loud about their sins before Yahweh, and they bowed down and worshiped him. BSB BSB: While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.
4 UDB There were Levites standing on the stairs. They were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, another Bani, and Kenani. BSB BSB: And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.
5 UDB Then the leaders of the Levites called out to the people. They were Jeshua, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah. They said, "Stand there and give praise to Yahweh your God, who has always lived and will live forever! Yahweh, we praise your glorious name! Your name is more important than everything else that is good and wonderful! BSB BSB: Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
6 UDB You are Yahweh, and no one else. You made the sky and the heavens above everything, and all the angels who do God's will. You made the earth and everything that is on it, and you made the seas and everything that is in them. You give life to everything. All the angel armies in heaven worship you. BSB BSB: You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.
7 UDB Yahweh, you are God. You chose Abram and brought him out of Ur in the Chaldees. You gave him the name Abraham. BSB BSB: You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
8 UDB You saw deep inside of him, and you knew he was a trustworthy person. Then you made a promise to him pledged with blood, promising that you would give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. And you, Yahweh, have done what you promised, because you always do what is right. BSB BSB: You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.
9 UDB You saw how much our ancestors were suffering in Egypt. You heard them cry to you for help when they were beside the Sea of Reeds. BSB BSB: You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea.
10 UDB You performed many kinds of miracles that caused the king, his servants, and all his people to suffer. As a result, you, Yahweh, made a great name for yourself, and it is still known to be great even today! BSB BSB: You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.
11 UDB You divided the sea into two parts, and your people walked through the middle of it on dry land. You drowned the soldiers of the Egyptian army under the waters, and they sank as a stone sinks in the deep! BSB BSB: You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.
12 UDB During the day you led them with a cloud like a pillar for them to follow, and at night you gave them the light of a pillar of fire, to show them where to walk. BSB BSB: You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.
13 UDB On Mount Sinai you came down from heaven and spoke to them. You gave them many regulations and decrees that are just and reliable, and you gave them commands and laws that are good. BSB BSB: You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.
14 UDB You taught them about your holy Sabbath, and you gave them commands, and rules, and a list of laws to obey from your servant Moses. He would tell them to the people. BSB BSB: You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses.
15 UDB When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven. When they were thirsty, you gave them water from a rock. You said to them to go and take the land you promised with a vow to give them. BSB BSB: In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land that You had sworn to give them.
16 UDB But our ancestors were very proud and stubborn. They refused even to listen to what you commanded them to do. BSB BSB: But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.
17 UDB They refused to listen to you. They forgot about all the miracles that you had performed for them. They became stubborn, and because they rebelled against you, they appointed a leader to take them back to Egypt, where they would be slaves again! But you are a God who forgives again and again. You are slow to be angry, and your love for them is never-ending and it is great. You did not abandon them. BSB BSB: They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.
18 UDB So, you did not desert them, even though they melted precious metals and cast an idol that looked like a calf. They presented this calf to the people and said, 'This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,' while they cursed God and did what he had forbidden. BSB BSB: Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,
19 UDB You always acted mercifully, and you would not abandon them when they were in the desert. The bright cloud which was like a huge pillar continued to lead them during the daytime, and the fiery cloud showed them where to walk at night. BSB BSB: You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.
20 UDB You sent your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold the manna from them when they were hungry and you provided water when they were thirsty. BSB BSB: You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.
21 UDB For forty years you took care of them in the desert. During all that time, they did not have need of anything. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell up. BSB BSB: For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
22 UDB You gave them kingdoms and nations of people. They took possession of even the most distant places in this land. They occupied the land over which King Sihon ruled from Heshbon and the land over which King Og ruled in the Bashan. BSB BSB: You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.
23 UDB You caused our ancestors' children to become as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and you brought them into this land, the land you told their fathers to enter and take for themselves so they might live there. BSB BSB: You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24 UDB They went in and took the land from the people who lived there. You enabled the Israelites to control the Canaanites and their kings so they could do to those people whatever they needed to do. BSB BSB: So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished.
25 UDB Our ancestors' children captured cities that had walls around them for protection. They took possession of fertile land. They occupied houses that were full of good things and wells that were already dug. They took possession of vineyards, groves of olive trees, and fruit trees. They ate all that they wanted to, and they were satisfied, and they grew fat, and they were delighted because you were so good to them. BSB BSB: They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.
26 UDB But they disobeyed you and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your law. They killed the prophets who warned them that they should return to you. They said and did very evil things against you. BSB BSB: But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
27 UDB So you handed them over to their enemies to defeat them. But when their enemies caused them to suffer, they called out to you. You heard their cry from heaven, and because you are very merciful, you sent them people to help them, and those leaders rescued them from their enemies. BSB BSB: So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.
28 UDB But after there was a time of peace again, our ancestors again did evil things that you hated. So you allowed their enemies to conquer them and ruled over them. But whenever they cried out to you again to help them, you heard them from heaven, and because you act mercifully you rescued them. BSB BSB: But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion.
29 UDB You warned them that they should again obey your laws, but they became proud and stubborn, and they disobeyed your decrees—and it is by obeying them that a person lives. They purposely ignored what you commanded them to do and became stubborn and refused to obey. BSB BSB: You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
30 UDB You were patient with them for many years. You warned them by the messages your Spirit gave to the prophets. But they did not listen to those messages. So again you allowed the armies of the nations nearby to defeat them. BSB BSB: You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
31 UDB But because you act mercifully, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them. You are a gracious and merciful God! BSB BSB: But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
32 UDB Our God, you are great! You are mighty! You are awesome! You faithfully love us as you promised in your covenant with us that you fulfill! But now we are having great difficulties in all these things. Do not let our hardships become unimportant to you! They have come on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our ancestors, and on all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. BSB BSB: So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.
33 UDB We know that you acted justly each time you punished us. You have treated us faithfully, but we have done evil things. BSB BSB: You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
34 UDB Our kings and the leaders they appointed and our priests and our other ancestors did not obey your laws. They did not heed your commands or the warnings that you gave them. BSB BSB: Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.
35 UDB Even when they had their own kings, and they enjoyed the good things that you did for them in this large and fertile land that you gave to them, they did not serve you and they would not stop doing what was evil. BSB BSB: For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.
36 UDB So now we are slaves here in this land that you gave to our ancestors, the land that you gave to them in order that they could enjoy all the good things that grow here. But we became slaves here! BSB BSB: So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves!
37 UDB Because we have sinned, we cannot eat the things that grow here. The kings who now rule over us are enjoying the things that grow here. They rule us and take our cattle. We must serve them and do the things that please them. We are in great misery. BSB BSB: Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.
38 UDB Because of all this, we, the people of Israel are making a solemn agreement on a scroll. We will write on it the names of our leaders, the names of the Levites, and the names of the priests, and then we will seal it." BSB BSB: In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.