24. So the sons came in and possessed the land, and thou didst humble the inhabitants of the land before them, the Canaanites, and didst give them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would.
25. And they took strong cities and fertile land and inherited houses full of all goods, hewn cisterns, vineyards and oliveyards and many trees of good fruit; so they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
26. Nevertheless, they were contentious and rebelled against thee and cast thy law behind their backs and slew thy prophets who testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great abominations.
27. Therefore, thou didst deliver them into the hand of their enemies, who afflicted them; and in the time of their tribulation, they cried unto thee, thou didst hear them from the heavens; and according to thy manifold mercies thou didst give them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
28. But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee; therefore, thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried unto thee, thou didst hear them from the heavens; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies
29. and didst protest unto them, that they return unto thy law; yet they dealt proudly and did not hearken unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments (which if a man shall do, in them he shall live) and withdrew the shoulder and hardened their neck and would not hear.
30. Yet many years didst thou forbear them and didst protest against them with thy spirit by the hand of thy prophets; yet they did not hear; therefore, thou didst give them into the hand of the peoples of the land.
31. Nevertheless, for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
32. Now, therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and terrible God, who keeps covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that has come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, on our prophets, on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
33. Howbeit thou art just in all that has come 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, with which thou didst testify against them.
35. For they did not serve thee in their kingdom and in thy great goodness that thou didst give them and in the large and fat land which thou didst deliver before them; neither did they turn from their wicked works.
36. Behold, we are slaves this day, behold us here, slaves in the land which thou didst give unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof.
37. And it multiplies its fruit for the kings, whom thou hast set over us because of our sins, who have dominion over our bodies and over our cattle, according to their will, and we are in great distress.