18. Though they made for themselves a molten calf,and proclaimed, ‘Here is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’and were guilty of great insults,
19. Yet in your great mercyyou did not forsake them in the desert.By day the column of cloud did not cease to lead them on their journey,by night the column of fire did not cease to light the way they were to travel.
20. Your good spirit you bestowed on them,to give them understanding;Your manna you did not withhold from their mouths,and you gave them water in their thirst.
21. Forty years in the desert you sustained them:they did not want;Their garments did not become worn,and their feet did not swell.
22. You gave them kingdoms and peoples,which you divided among them as border lands.They possessed the land of Sihon, king of Heshbon,and the land of Og, king of Bashan.
23. You made their children as numerous as the stars of the heavens,and you brought them into the landwhich you had commanded their ancestors to enter and possess.
24. The children went in to possess the land;you humbled before them the Canaanite inhabitantsand gave them into their power,Their kings and the peoples of the land,to do with them as they wished.
25. They captured fortified cities and fertile land;they took possession of houses filled with all good things,Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,and fruit trees in abundance.They ate and had their fill,fattened and feasted on your great goodness.
26. But they were contemptuous and rebelled against you:they cast your law behind their backs.They murdered your prophetswho bore witness against them to bring them back to you:they were guilty of great insults.
27. Therefore you gave them into the power of their enemies,who oppressed them.But in the time of their oppression they would cry out to you,and you would hear them from heaven,And according to your great mercy give them saviorsto deliver them from the power of their enemies.
28. As soon as they had relief,they would go back to doing evil in your sight.Again you abandoned them to the power of their enemies,who crushed them.Once again they cried out to you, and you heard them from heavenand delivered them according to your mercy, many times over.
29. You bore witness against them,to bring them back to your law.But they were insolentand would not obey your commandments;They sinned against your ordinances,which give life to those who keep them.They turned stubborn backs, stiffened their necks,and would not obey.
30. You were patient with them for many years,bearing witness against them through your spirit, by means of your prophets;Still they would not listen.Therefore you delivered them into the power of the peoples of the lands.
31. Yet in your great mercy you did not completely destroy themand did not forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32. Now, our God, great, mighty, and awesome God,who preserves the covenant of mercy,do not discount all the hardship that has befallen us,Our kings, our princes, our priests,our prophets, our ancestors, and your entire people,from the time of the kings of Assyria until this day!
33. In all that has come upon us you have been just,for you kept faith while we have done evil.
34. Yes, our kings, our princes, our priests, and our ancestorshave not kept your law;They paid no attention to your commandmentsand the warnings which you gave them.