²² You gave them kingdoms and peoples,

and you divided their whole territory among them.

They took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon,

and also the land of Og, the king of Bashan.

²³ You made their children as numerous as the stars of heaven.

You brought them to the land that you had told their ancestors to enter and possess.

²⁴ Their children came and possessed the land,

and you subdued the Canaanite inhabitants of the land before them.

You gave their kings and the peoples of the land into their hand

to do with them as they pleased.

²⁵ They captured fortified cities and fertile land.

They possessed houses full of all kinds of good things,

hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards,

and fruit trees in abundance.

They ate and were satisfied.

They became fat and delighted in your great goodness.

²⁶ But they rebelled and revolted against you and rejected your Law.

They killed your prophets, who had testified against them

so that they would return to you.

They also committed great blasphemies.

²⁷ So you delivered them into the hand of their oppressors,

who made them suffer.

But when they cried to you at the time of their distress,

you heard from heaven,

and according to your great compassion, you gave them deliverers,

who saved them from the hand of their oppressors.

²⁸ However, as soon as they had rest, they returned to doing evil before you.

So you abandoned them into the hand of their enemies,

and they ruled over them.

Then they turned and cried out to you.

You heard from heaven,

and you rescued them many times, according to your great compassion.

²⁹ You testified against them to lead them back to your law,

but they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commands.

They sinned against your judgments

by which a man will live when he obeys them.

They turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked, and would not listen.

³⁰ You were patient with them for many years,

and you testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets.

But they would not listen,

so you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

³¹ Nevertheless, in your great compassion you did not put an end to them.

You did not abandon them,

because you are a gracious and compassionate God.

³² So now, you our God, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God,

who keeps the covenant of mercy,

do not regard as trivial all the hardships that have found us,

our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets,

our ancestors, and all your people,

from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

³³ You are righteous in regard to everything that has come upon us,

because you have acted faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.

³⁴ Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors did not follow your law.

They did not pay attention to your commands

or to your testimony that you gave against them.

³⁵ Although they were in their own kingdom,

and they were enjoying your great goodness that you gave to them,

and they were enjoying the spacious and fertile land

that you placed before them,

they still did not serve you,

and they did not repent of their evil deeds.

³⁶ As a result, we are slaves today.

We are slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors

so that they could eat its fruit and its good things.

³⁷ It is yielding abundant produce to kings

whom you placed over us because of our sins,

and they are ruling our bodies and our livestock as they please,

while we are in great distress.