³ So when I heard this thing, ^(A)I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down ^(B)astonished. ⁴ Then everyone who ^(C)trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the ^(D)evening sacrifice.

⁵ At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and ^(E)spread out my hands to the Lord my God. ⁶ And I said: “O my God, I am too ^(F)ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for ^(G)our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has ^(H)grown up to the heavens. ⁷ Since the days of our fathers to this day ^(I)we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities ^(J)we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the ^(K)sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to ^(L)humiliation,^[a] as it is this day.