17. Open your eyes and look upon us. Those in the world of the dead with no breath left in their bodies cannot offer praises to you or proclaim how just you are.
18. Only the living, O Lord, can offer you praise and acknowledge your justice, even though they may be suffering greatly, bent and weak, hungry and with failing eyesight.
19. “O Lord our God, we pray to you for mercy, but not because of any good things done by our ancestors and our kings.
20. You turned your anger and wrath against us, just as you had threatened to do when your servants the prophets spoke your word to us and said,
21. ‘Bend your backs and serve the king of Babylonia, and you can remain in the land that I gave to your ancestors.
22. But if you refuse to obey my command to serve him,
23. I will bring to an end every sound of joy and celebration in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem. Even the happy sounds of wedding feasts will no longer be heard. The whole land will be desolate and uninhabited.’