⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, and said, “Oh, Lord, the ^(A)great and awesome God, who ^(B)keeps His covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

⁷ “^(A)Righteousness belongs to You, Lord, but to us ^[a](B)open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in ^(C)all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. ^8 [b]Open shame belongs to us, Lord, to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong ^(D)compassion and forgiveness, ^[c]because we have ^(E)rebelled against Him;

¹⁶ Lord, in accordance with all Your ^[a]righteous acts, let now Your ^(A)anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your ^(B)holy mountain; for because of our sins and the wrongdoings of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an ^(C)object of taunting to all those around us. ¹⁷ So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for ^[b]Your sake, Lord, ^(D)let Your face shine on Your ^(E)desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ My God, ^(F)incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and ^(G)see our desolations and the city which is ^(H)called by Your name; for we are not ^[c](I)presenting our pleas before You based on ^[d]any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion. ¹⁹ Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, my God, ^(J)do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Parables on Prayer

18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ^(A)ought to pray and not ^(B)become discouraged,

⁷ now, will God not ^(A)bring about justice for His ^(B)elect who cry out to Him day ^[a]and night, and will He ^(C)delay long for them? ⁸ I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^(D)will He find ^[b]faith on the earth?”