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9:1  On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites, wearing sackcloth and with their heads covered with dust, assembled together for a fast.
9:2  Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, after which they stood up and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.
9:3  They next stood in their places and read from the book of the law of the Lord, their God, for a fourth part of the day, after which they spent another quarter of the day in confessing their sins and worshiping the Lord, their God.
9:4  Standing on the platform of the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried aloud to the Lord, their God.
9:5  Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: “Stand up and bless the Lord, your God from everlasting to everlasting. And blessed is your glorious name that is exalted above all blessing and praise.”
9:6  Then Ezra said: “You alone are the Lord: you have created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is upon it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you gave life, and the hosts of heaven worship you.
9:7  “You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out from Ur of the Chaldeans and changed his name to Abraham.
9:8  Finding that his heart was faithful, you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. The promises of yours you fulfilled, for you are just.
9:9  “You beheld the misery of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea.
9:10  “You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants and the people of his land. Because you knew of the great arrogance with which they treated our forefathers, and you won renown for yourself that has lasted even to this very day.
9:11  “You divided the sea before them, and they passed through the sea on dry ground. However, their pursuers you hurled into the depths like a stone cast into turbulent waters.
9:12  By a pillar of cloud you led them by day, and by a pillar of fire during the night, to light the way ahead of them along which they were to follow.
9:13  “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, statutes and commandments that are good.
9:14  You made known to them your holy sabbath, and through your servant Moses you gave them commandments, statutes, and laws.
9:15  “You gave them bread from heaven to ease their hunger, and you brought forth water from a rock to quench their thirst. You also told them to enter and take possession of the land which you had solemnly sworn to give them.
9:16  “However, they and our ancestors acted with arrogance; they stubbornly refused to obey your commandments.
9:17  They refused to obey you and no longer recalled the miracles you had wrought among them. In their obstinacy they became stiff-necked and came to a decision to return to their slavery in Egypt. But because you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and rich in mercy, you did not forsake them.
9:18  “Even when they had cast for themselves a calf out of molten metal and proclaimed: ‘Here is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ and were guilty of gross blasphemies,
9:19  you in your great compassion did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud never failed to lead them on their journey by night, nor did the pillar of fire fail by night to light the way ahead of them by which they were to go.
9:20  “You bestowed your good spirit on them to give them understanding. Your manna you did not withhold from their mouths, and you gave them water in their thirst.
9:21  For forty years you sustained them; they lacked nothing in the wilderness. Their clothes did not become worn, and their feet did not become swollen.
9:22  “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, allotting to them even the most remote frontiers. They took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan.
9:23  You made their children as numerous as the stars of the heavens, and you brought them into the land which you had commanded their fathers to enter and possess.
9:24  “The sons entered and took possession of the land, and you subdued the Canaanite inhabitants and delivered them into your power, their kings as well as the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased.
9:25  They captured fortified towns and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate and had their fill, grew fat, and found delight in your great goodness.
9:26  “Nevertheless they grew disobedient, rebelled against you, and cast your law behind their backs. They also killed your prophets who bore witness against them to bring them back to you, while they committed great blasphemies.
9:27  Therefore, you delivered them into the power of their enemies who caused them to suffer greatly. But when they would cry out to you in the midst of their oppression, from heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you would send them saviors to deliver them from the clutches of their oppressors.
9:28  “However, after some respite, they would resume their evil deeds, and so the Lord abandoned them to their enemies who then became their rulers. When once again they appealed to you, you heard them from heaven, and because of your compassion you rescued them on many occasions.
9:29  You solemnly warned them in order to bring them back to your law. However, they became arrogant and refused to obey your commandments, and they sinned against your ordinances whose observance would bring life to those who keep them. Rather they stubbornly turned aside, and in their obstinacy they refused to obey.
9:30  “You were patient with them for many years and warned them by your spirit through the prophets. However, when they continued to refuse to listen, you put them at the mercy of the people of other lands.
9:31  Yet even so, because of your great compassion, you did not completely destroy them, nor did you forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
9:32  “Therefore, O our God, you are great, mighty, and awesome, maintaining the covenant and your faithful love. Do not treat lightly, as something of little account, these hardships that have afflicted us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day.
9:33  You have treated us with justice in everything that has happened to us, for you have remained faithful to us even though we have done wrong in your eyes.
9:34  “Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our ancestors did not keep your law, nor did they pay attention to your commandments or heed the warnings you gave them.
9:35  Even while they were in their own kingdom, despite the abundant goodness that you bestowed upon them, and despite the wide and fertile land that you lavished upon them, they did not serve you or renounce their evil deeds.
9:36  “But see, here we are slaves today, slaves in this land that you gave to our ancestors so that we might savor its fruits and all the good things it produces.
9:37  All its abundant yield is given to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They also rule over our bodies and do as they please with our cattle; therefore we are in great distress.”