1And when all these things ended, the Elders approached me and they were saying: “The people of Israel, and the Priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the cities and their abominations, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Ammonites, and the Perizzites, and the Yebusites, and the Egyptians, and the Moabites and the Amorites. 2Because they took some of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and the holy seed was mingled among the Gentiles of the cities, and the hand of the Elders and of the Levites was in this evil first.” 3Then, when I heard this matter, I tore my garments and my robe, and I pulled out of the hair of my head and of my beard, and I was sitting down and was speechless. 4And all those who were concerning themselves about the word of the God of Israel assembled to me about the evil that the children of the captivity had done, and I was sitting and was speechless until the ninth hour.

5And at the moment of the ninth hour, I arose from my griefs and from the tearing of my garments, and I bowed on my knees and I spread my hands in prayer before LORD JEHOVAH God 6And I said: “My God, we are ashamed to raise our faces to you, our God, because our crimes have increased higher than our heads and our great sins went up unto Heaven. 7And from the days of our fathers we are found in great sin until today, because we have increased sinning, we and our fathers, and our Kings, and our Priests; because of this, we were handed over to the sword and to captivity and to plunder and to shame of faces into the hand of the Kings of the cities and into the hands of our enemies as it is today. 8And from now for a little while there shall be compassions from before LORD JEHOVAH our God, to let a remnant of us remain and to give us a place in the country of his holiness, and to enlighten our eyes, our God, and to give a little life in our bondage. 9Because we are Bond Servants, and in our bondage we are not abandoned by our God, and our God gave us favor before the Kings of Persia, and he gave today’s sustenance to us, and to raise up the house of our God, and he will repair her deserted places and he will give to us a fence in Judea and in Jerusalem.

10And now, what will we say after these all things, for we have abandoned your commandments? 11For you have commanded us by the agency of your Servants the Prophets, and you have said to us: ‘The land that you enter to inherit is defiled with the defilement of the Gentiles, and the cities which fill it with their defilement from the threshold to the porch, and they filled it with their detestable works. 12And from now on you shall not give your daughters to their sons, and you shall not take their daughters for your sons, and you shall not seek their peace and their good for eternity, so that you will be strengthened and you shall eat the good things of the land, and you shall give an inheritance to your children, and they will possess it as long as eternity. 13And after these things, all that comes upon us in our evil works and in our great sins, because you, our God, have purposed to forgive us our sins and you shall give us a remnant in the world 14And we have turned back and we have violated your commandments, and we went, we have cleaved to these defiled Gentiles, and we do according to their works, and you are merciful! Do not be angry against us! Forgive our debts from before you, for you are merciful! Leave us a remnant in the world, because there is none like you, and we will not be destroyed! 15LORD JEHOVAH, God of Israel, you are righteous, for you have left a remnant of us as it is today! Behold, we stand and we confess before you concerning our sins, because there are no words to speak before you about this!”