8. O lord, we have been humiliated – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you.
9. Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.
10. We have not obeyed the lord our God by living according to his laws that he set before us through his servants the prophets.
11. “All Israel has broken your law and turned away by not obeying you. Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you.
12. He has carried out his threats against us and our rulers who were over us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!
13. Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify the lord our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom from your reliable moral standards.
14. The lord was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the lord our God is just in all he has done, and we have not obeyed him.
15. “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly.
16. O Lord, according to all your justice, please turn your raging anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.
17. “So now, our God, accept the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to your devastated sanctuary for your own sake.
18. Listen attentively, my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins and the city called by your name. For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, but because your compassion is abundant.