12. Pray that the Lord may give us strength, and light to our eyes, that we may live under the protective shadow of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and of Belshazzar, his son, to serve them many days, and find favor in their sight.
13. Pray for us to the Lord, our God, for we have sinned against the Lord, our God. Even to this day the wrath of the Lord and his anger have not turned away from us.
14. On the feast day and during the days of assembly, read aloud in the house of the Lord this scroll that we send you:
15. “To the Lord our God belongs justice; to us, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, to be shamefaced, as on this day—
16. to us, our kings, rulers, priests, and prophets, and our ancestors.
17. We have sinned in the Lord’s sight
18. and disobeyed him. We have not listened to the voice of the Lord, our God, so as to follow the precepts the Lord set before us.
19. From the day the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord, our God, and neglected to listen to his voice.
20. Even today evils cling to us, the curse the Lord pronounced to Moses, his servant, at the time he led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey.
21. For we did not listen to the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets he sent us,
22. but each of us has followed the inclinations of our wicked hearts, served other gods, and done evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.