31 Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:

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31 “Suppose someone says to God,
    ‘I am guilty(A) but will offend no more.

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I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

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Because I have sinned against him,
    I will bear the Lord’s wrath,(A)
until he pleads my case(B)
    and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;(C)
    I will see his righteousness.(D)

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27 He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;

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27 And they will go to others and say,
    ‘I have sinned,(A) I have perverted what is right,(B)
    but I did not get what I deserved.(C)

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O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14 Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

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“Lord, you are righteous,(A) but this day we are covered with shame(B)—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered(C) us because of our unfaithfulness(D) to you.(E) We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you.(F) The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving,(G) even though we have rebelled against him;(H) 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.(I) 11 All Israel has transgressed(J) your law(K) and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses(L) and sworn judgments(M) written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned(N) against you. 12 You have fulfilled(O) the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster.(P) Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like(Q) what has been done to Jerusalem.(R) 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord(S) our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.(T) 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster(U) on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does;(V) yet we have not obeyed him.(W)

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18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.

19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

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18 “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
    ‘You disciplined(A) me like an unruly calf,(B)
    and I have been disciplined.
Restore(C) me, and I will return,
    because you are the Lord my God.
19 After I strayed,(D)
    I repented;
after I came to understand,
    I beat(E) my breast.
I was ashamed(F) and humiliated
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’(G)

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Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

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Therefore I despise myself(A)
    and repent(B) in dust and ashes.”(C)

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Then Job answered the Lord, and said,

Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

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Then Job answered the Lord:

“I am unworthy(A)—how can I reply to you?
    I put my hand over my mouth.(B)
I spoke once, but I have no answer(C)
    twice, but I will say no more.”(D)

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33 Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

34 Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

35 For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

36 Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

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33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous;(A) you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly.(B) 34 Our kings,(C) our leaders, our priests and our ancestors(D) did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness(E) to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you(F) or turn from their evil ways.

36 “But see, we are slaves(G) today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.(H)

The Agreement of the People

38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement,(I) putting it in writing,(J) and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 9:38 In Hebrew texts this verse (9:38) is numbered 10:1.

13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;

14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?

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13 “What has happened to us is a result of our evil(A) deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved(B) and have given us a remnant like this. 14 Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry(C) with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us,(D) leaving us no remnant(E) or survivor?

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41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

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41 which made me hostile(A) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts(B) are humbled(C) and they pay(D) for their sin,

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