Then they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord;

At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan, Baruch took the vessels of the house of the Lord, which had been carried away from the temple, to return them to the land of Judah—the silver vessels which Zedeki′ah the son of Josi′ah, king of Judah, had made,

A Letter to Jerusalem

And they said: “Herewith we send you money; so buy with the money burnt offerings and sin offerings and incense, and prepare a cereal offering, and offer them upon the altar of the Lord our God;

And the Lord will give us strength, and he will give light to our eyes, and we shall live under the protection of Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon, and under the protection of Belshaz′zar his son, and we shall serve them many days and find favor in their sight.

And pray for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and to this day the anger of the Lord and his wrath have not turned away from us.

And you shall read this book which we are sending you, to make your confession in the house of the Lord on the days of the feasts and at appointed seasons.

Confession of Sins

“And you shall say: ‘Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but confusion of face, as at this day, to us, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

because we have sinned before the Lord,

and have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord which he set before us.

From the day when the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice.

So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse which the Lord declared through Moses his servant at the time when he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey.

We did not heed the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, but we each followed the intent of his own wicked heart by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

“‘So the Lord confirmed his word, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings and against our princes and against the men of Israel and Judah.

And he gave them into subjection to all the kingdoms around us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the surrounding peoples, where the Lord has scattered them.

They were brought low and not raised up, because we sinned against the Lord our God, in not heeding his voice.

“‘Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but confusion of face to us and our fathers, as at this day.

All those calamities with which the Lord threatened us have come upon us.

Yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord by turning away, each of us, from the thoughts of his wicked heart.

And the Lord has kept the calamities ready, and the Lord has brought them upon us, for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he has commanded us to do.

Yet we have not obeyed his voice, to walk in the statutes of the Lord which he set before us.

Prayer for Deliverance

“‘And now, O Lord God of Israel, who didst bring thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and with signs and wonders and with great power and outstretched arm, and hast made thee a name, as at this day,

we have sinned, we have been ungodly, we have done wrong, O Lord our God, against all thy ordinances.

Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our supplication, and for thy own sake deliver us, and grant us favor in the sight of those who have carried us into exile;

that all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, for Israel and his descendants are called by thy name.

O Lord, look down from thy holy habitation, and consider us. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear;