¹⁶ “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked,^(A) and they did not obey your commands.^(B)

⁴⁷ and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead^(A) with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;^(B)

⁵ we have sinned^(A) and done wrong.^(B) We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away^(C) from your commands and laws.^{(D) 6} We have not listened^(E) to your servants the prophets,^(F) who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors,^(G) and to all the people of the land.

⁷ “Lord, you are righteous,^(H) but this day we are covered with shame^(I)—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered^(J) us because of our unfaithfulness^(K) to you.^{(L) 8} We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you.^(M)

³² “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty^(A) and awesome,^(B) who keeps his covenant of love,^(C) do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship^(D) that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. ³³ In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous;^(E) you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly.^{(F) 34} Our kings,^(G) our leaders, our priests and our ancestors^(H) did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep.

“I am too ashamed^(A) and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.^{(B) 7} From the days of our ancestors^(C) until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword^(D) and captivity,^(E) to pillage and humiliation^(F) at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.