እስራኤላውያን ኀጢአታቸውን ተናዘዙ
1በዚያኑ ወር ሃያ አራተኛ ቀን እስራኤላውያን ጾመው፣ ማቅ ለብሰው፣ በራሳቸው ላይ ትቢያ ነስንሰው በአንድነት ተሰበሰቡ። 2የእስራኤላውያን ዘር የሆኑትም ራሳቸውን ከባዕዳን ሁሉ ለዩ። ቆመውም ኀጢአታቸውንና የአባቶቻቸውን በደል ተናዘዙ። 3በያሉበትም ቦታ ቆመው ከአምላካቸው ከእግዚአብሔር ሕግ መጽሐፍ ሩብ ቀን አነበቡ፤ የቀረውን ሩብ ቀን ደግሞ ንስሓ በመግባትና ለአምላካቸው ለእግዚአብሔር በመስገድ አሳለፉ። 4ሌዋውያኑ ኢያሱ፣ ባኒ፣ ቀድምኤል፣ ሰበንያ፣ ቡኒ፣ ሰራብያ፣ ባኒ፣ ከናኒ፣ በመውጫ ደረጃዎች ላይ ቆሙ፤ ወደ አምላካቸው ወደ እግዚአብሔርም በታላቅ ድምፅ ጮኹ። 5ሌዋውያኑ ኢያሱ፣ ቀድምኤል፣ ባኒ፣ አሰበንያ፣ ሰራብያ፣ ሆዲያ፣ ሰበንያና ፈታያ፣ “ተነሥታችሁ ቁሙ፤ ከዘለዓለም እስከ ዘለዓለም የሚኖረውን አምላካችሁን እግዚአብሔርን ወድሱ” አሉ።
“ክቡር ስምህ የተመሰገነ ይሁን፤ ከምስጋና ሁሉና ከውዳሴም በላይ ከፍ ከፍ ይበል። 6አንተ ብቻ እግዚአብሔር ነህ። ሰማያትን፣ ከሰማያት በላይ ያሉትን ሰማያትና የከዋክብታቸውን ሰራዊት ሁሉ፣ ምድርንና በላይዋ ያለውን ሁሉ፣ ባሕሮችንና በውስጣቸው ያሉትንም ሁሉ ፈጥረሃል። ለሁሉም ሕይወትን ትሰጣለህ፤ የሰማይ ሰራዊትም ይሰግዱልሃል።
7“አብራምን የመረጥኸውና ከከለዳውያን ዑር አውጥተህ አብርሃም የሚል ስም የሰጠኸው አንተ እግዚአብሔር አምላክ ነህ። 8ልቡ ለአንተ የታመነ ሆኖ ስላገኘኸውም፣ የከነዓናውያንን የኬጢያውያንን፣ የአሞራውያንን፣ የፌርዛውያንን፣ የኢያቡሳውያንንና የጌርጌሳውያንን ምድር ለዘሮቹ ለመስጠት ከእርሱ ጋር ቃል ኪዳን ገባህ፤ ጻድቅ ስለ ሆንህም የሰጠኸውን ተስፋ ጠበቅህ።
9“አንተ በግብፅ የአባቶቻችንን ሥቃይ አየህ፤ በቀይ ባሕርም9፥9 ዕብራይስጡ፣ ያም ሱፍ ይላል፤ ይኸውም የደንገል ባሕር ማለት ነው። ጩኸታቸውን ሰማህ። 10ታምራታዊ ምልክቶችንና ድንቆችን በፈርዖንና፣ በሹማምቱ ሁሉ፣ በምድሩም ሕዝብ ሁሉ ላይ ላክህ፤ ይህንም ያደረግኸው ግብፃውያን እንዴት በእብሪት እንዳስጨነቋቸው ስላወቅህ ነው። እስከ ዛሬም የሚጠራ ስም ለራስህ እንዲኖርህ አደረግህ። 11በደረቅ ምድር እንዲሻገሩ ባሕሩን በፊታቸው ከፈልህ፤ ያሳደዷቸውን ግን በኀይለኛ ውሃ ውስጥ እንደሚጣል ድንጋይ ወደ ጥልቁ ውስጥ ወረወርሃቸው። 12ቀን በደመና ዐምድ፣ በሚሄዱበት መንገድ ታበራላቸውም ዘንድ ሌሊት በእሳት ዐምድ መራሃቸው።
13“በሲና ተራራ ላይ ወረድህ፤ ከሰማይም ተናገርሃቸው። ትክክለኛ ደንቦችንና እውነተኛ ሕጎችን፣ መልካም ሥርዐቶችንና ትእዛዞችን ሰጠሃቸው። 14የተቀደሰች ሰንበትህን አስታወቅሃቸው፤ ትእዛዞችን፣ ሥርዐቶችንና ሕጎችን በባሪያህ በሙሴ አማካይነት ሰጠሃቸው። 15በተራቡ ጊዜ ከሰማይ መና ሰጠሃቸው፤ በተጠሙም ጊዜ ከዐለት ውሃ አፈለቅህላቸው፤ ልትሰጣቸው በተዘረጋች እጅ ወደ ማልህላቸውም ምድር ገብተው እንዲወርሱ አዘዝሃቸው።
16“እነርሱና አባቶቻችን ግን ትምክሕተኞችና ዐንገተ ደንዳኖች ሆኑ፤ ትእዛዞችህንም አልፈጸሙም። 17ለመስማት አልፈለጉም፤ በመካከላቸውም ያደረግሃቸውን ታምራት ማስታወስ አልቻሉም። ዐንገታቸውን አደነደኑ፤ በዐመፃቸውም ወደ ባርነታቸው ለመመለስ መሪ ሾሙ። አንተ ግን ይቅር ባይ አምላክ፣ ቸርና ርኅሩኅ፣ ለቍጣም የዘገየህና ምሕረትህ የበዛ ነህ። ስለዚህ አልተውሃቸውም፤ 18የጥጃ ምስል ለራሳቸው አቅልጠው፣ ‘ከግብፅ ያወጣህ አምላክ ይህ ነው’ ባሉና አስጸያፊ የስድብ ቃል በተናገሩ ጊዜ እንኳ አልተለየሃቸውም።
19“ከርኅራኄህ ብዛት የተነሣ በምድረ በዳ አልተውሃቸውም፤ ቀን የደመናው ዐምድ በመንገዳቸው ላይ መምራቱን፣ ሌሊትም የእሳቱ ዐምድ በሚሄዱበት ላይ ማብራቱን አላቆመም። 20ያስተምራቸው ዘንድ ቸር መንፈስህን ሰጠሃቸው፤ መናውን ከአፋቸው አልከለከልህም፤ በተጠሙ ጊዜ ውሃ ሰጠሃቸው። 21በምድረ በዳ አርባ ዓመት መገብሃቸው፤ ምንም ያጡት አልነበረም፤ ልብሳቸው አላለቀም፤ እግራቸውም አላበጠም።
22“በሩቅ የሚገኙትን ድንበሮች እንኳ ሳይቀር፣ መንግሥታትንና አሕዛብን ሰጠሃቸው። የሐሴቦን ንጉሥ የሴዎንን ምድር፣ የባሳን ንጉሥ የዐግን ምድር ወረሱ። 23ወንዶች ልጆቻቸውን እንደ ሰማይ ከዋክብት አበዛሃቸው፤ አባቶቻቸው ገብተው እንዲወርሱ ወዳዘዝሃቸውም ምድር አገባሃቸው። 24በምድሪቱ ወንዶች ልጆቻቸው ገቡባት፤ ወረሷትም። በምድሪቱ ላይ ይኖሩ የነበሩትን ከነዓናውያን በፊታቸው አንበረከክህ፤ ያሻቸውን ያደርጉባቸው ዘንድ ከነዓናውያንን ከንጉሦቻቸውና ከምድሪቱ ሕዝቦች ጋር በእጃቸው አሳልፈህ ሰጠሃቸው። 25የተመሸጉ ከተሞቻቸውንና የሠባውን ምድር ያዙ፤ በመልካም ነገር ሁሉ የተሞሉ ቤቶቻቸውን፣ የተቈፈሩ የውሃ ጕድጓዶቻቸውን፣ የወይን ተክላቸውን፣ የወይራ ዛፎቻቸውንና ስፍር ቍጥር የሌላቸውን የፍሬ ዛፎች ያዙ። እስኪጠግቡ በሉ፤ ወፈሩም፤ በታላቅ በጎነትህም ደስ ተሰኙ።
26“ነገር ግን እንቢተኞች ሆኑ፤ ዐመፁብህም፤ ሕግህንም አሽቀንጥረው ጣሉ፤ ወደ አንተ እንዲመለሱ ሲያስጠነቅቋቸው የነበሩት ነቢያትህን ገደሉ፤ አስጸያፊ የስድብ ቃልም ተናገሩ። 27ስለዚህ ላስጨነቋቸው ጠላቶቻቸው አሳልፈህ ሰጠሃቸው። በተጨነቁ ጊዜ ግን ወደ አንተ ጮኹ፤ አንተም ከሰማይ ሰማሃቸው፤ ከርኅራኄህም ብዛት የተነሣ ከጠላቶቻቸው እጅ የሚያድኗቸውን ታዳጊዎች ሰጠሃቸው።
28“ነገር ግን ዕረፍት ባገኙ ጊዜ፣ በፊትህ ክፉውን ነገር እንደ ገና ፈጸሙ፤ ከዚያም ይገዟቸው ዘንድ በጠላቶቻቸው እጅ ጣልሃቸው፤ እንደ ገና ወደ አንተ በጮኹ ጊዜ፣ ከሰማይ ሰማህ፤ በርኅራኄህም በየጊዜው ታደግሃቸው።
29“ወደ ሕግህ እንዲመለሱ አስጠነቀቅሃቸው፤ እነርሱ ግን እብሪተኞች ሆኑ። ትእዛዞችህንም አልፈጸሙም፤ አንድ ሰው ቢፈጽማቸው በሕይወት የሚኖርባቸውን ሥርዐቶችህን ተላለፉ። እንቢተኞች ሆነው ጀርባቸውን አዞሩብህ፤ ዐንገታቸውን አደነደኑ፤ መስማትም አልፈለጉም። 30ብዙ ዘመን ታገሥሃቸው፤ በነቢያትህ አማካይነት በመንፈስህ አስጠነቀቅሃቸው። ነገር ግን አላደመጡህም፤ ከዚህም የተነሣ ጎረቤቶቻቸው ለሆኑ አሕዛብ አሳልፈህ ሰጠሃቸው። 31አንተ ግን ቸርና መሓሪ አምላክ ነህና ከምሕረትህ ብዛት የተነሣ፣ ፈጽመህ አላጠፋሃቸውም፤ አልተውሃቸውምም።
32“አሁንም አምላካችን ሆይ፤ ቃል ኪዳንህንና ዘላለማዊ ፍቅርህን የምትጠብቅ ታላቅ፣ ኀያልና የተፈራህ አምላክ ሆይ፤ ከአሦር ነገሥታት ዘመን ጀምሮ እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ በእኛ፣ በነገሥታታችንና በመሪዎቻችን፣ በካህናታችንና በነቢያታችን፣ በአባቶቻችንና በመላው ሕዝብህ ላይ የደረሰው ይህ ሁሉ መከራ በፊትህ እንደ ቀላል ነገር አይታይ። 33በደረሰብን ሁሉ አንተ ጻድቅ ነህ፤ እኛ በደለኞች ነን፤ አንተ ግን ትክክለኛውን አደረግህ። 34ነገሥታታችን፣ መሪዎቻችን፣ ካህናታችንና አባቶቻችን ሕግህን አልጠበቁም፤ ትእዛዞችህን ወይም የሰጠሃቸውን ማስጠንቀቂያዎች አልሰሙም። 35በገዛ መንግሥታቸው፣ በሰጠሃቸው ታላቅ በጎነትህና በፊታቸውም ባዘጋጀህላቸው ሰፊና ለም ምድር እንኳ፣ አንተን አላገለገሉም፤ ከክፉ መንገዳቸውም አልተመለሱም።
36“እነሆ፤ ዛሬም ባሮች ነን፤ አባቶቻችን ፍሬዋንና በረከቷን እንዲበሉ በሰጠሃቸው ምድር ባሮች ነን። 37ከኀጢአታችን የተነሣ የተትረፈረፈው መከር ሲሳይ የሆነው በላያችን ላስቀመጥሃቸው ነገሥታት ነው፤ እነርሱም ደስ እንዳሰኛቸው በሰውነታችንና በቀንድ ከብቶቻችን ላይ ያዝዛሉ። እኛም በታላቅ ጭንቀት ውስጥ እንገኛለን።”
የሕዝቡ መስማማት
38“ከዚህ ሁሉ የተነሣም ጽሑፍ ላይ በማስፈር ግዴታ የምንገባበትን የውል ስምምነት እናደርጋለን፤ መሪዎቻችን፣ ሌዋውያኖቻችንና ካህናታችንም ማኅተሞቻቸውን ያኖሩበታል።”
The Israelites Admit They Have Sinned
1It was the 24th day of the seventh month. The Israelites gathered together again. They didn’t eat any food. They wore the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. They put dust on their heads. 2The Israelites separated themselves from everyone else. They stood and admitted they had sinned. They also admitted that their people before them had sinned. 3They stood where they were. They listened while the Levites read parts of the Book of the Law of the Lord their God. They listened for a fourth of the day. They spent another fourth of the day admitting their sins. They also worshiped the Lord their God. 4Some people were standing on the stairs of the Levites. They included Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. With loud voices they called out to the Lord their God. 5Then some Levites spoke up. They included Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah. They said to the people, “Stand up. Praise the Lord your God. He lives for ever and ever!”
So the people said, “Lord, may your glorious name be praised. May it be lifted high above every other name that is blessed and praised. 6You are the one and only Lord. You made the heavens. You made even the highest heavens. You created all the stars in the sky. You created the earth and everything on it. And you made the oceans and everything in them. You give life to everything. Every living being in heaven worships you.
7“You are the Lord God. You chose Abram. You brought him out of Ur in the land of Babylon. You named him Abraham. 8You knew that his heart was faithful to you. And you made a covenant with him. You promised to give to his children after him a land of their own. It was the land of the Canaanites, Hittites and Amorites. The Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites also lived there. You have kept your promise. That’s because you always do what is right and fair.
9“You saw how our people of long ago suffered in Egypt. You heard them cry out to you at the Red Sea. 10You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh. You sent plagues on all his officials. In fact, you sent them on all the people of Egypt. You knew how they treated our people. They looked down on them. But you made a name for yourself. That name remains to this very day. 11You parted the waters of the Red Sea for the Israelites. They passed through it on dry ground. But you threw into the sea those who chased them. They sank down like a stone into the mighty waters. 12By day you led the Israelites with a pillar of cloud. At night you led them with a pillar of fire. It gave them light to show them the way you wanted them to go.
13“You came down on Mount Sinai. From heaven you spoke to our people. You gave them rules and laws. Those laws are right and fair. You gave them orders and commands that are good. 14You taught them about your holy Sabbath day. You gave them commands, orders and laws. You did it through your servant Moses. 15When the people were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven. When they were thirsty, you brought them water out of a rock. You told them to go into the land of Canaan. You told them to take it as their own. It was the land you had promised to give them.
16“But our people before us became proud and stubborn. They didn’t obey your commands. 17They refused to listen to you. They forgot the miracles you had done among them. So they became stubborn. When they refused to obey you, they appointed a leader for themselves. They wanted to go back to being slaves in Egypt. But you are a God who forgives. You are gracious. You are tender and kind. You are slow to get angry. You are full of love. So you didn’t desert them. 18They made for themselves a metal statue of a god that looked like a calf. They said to one another, ‘Here is your god. He brought you up out of Egypt.’ And they did evil things that dishonored you. But you still didn’t desert them.
19“Because you loved them so much, you didn’t leave them in the desert. During the day the pillar of cloud didn’t stop guiding them on their path. At night the pillar of fire didn’t stop shining on the way you wanted them to go. 20You gave them your good Spirit to teach them. You didn’t hold back your manna from their mouths. And you gave them water when they were thirsty. 21For 40 years you took good care of them in the desert. They had everything they needed. Their clothes didn’t wear out. And their feet didn’t swell up.
22“You gave them kingdoms and nations. You even gave them lands far away. They took over the country of Sihon. He was the king of Heshbon. They also took over the country of Og. He was the king of Bashan. 23You gave them as many children as there are stars in the sky. You told their parents to enter the land. You told them to take it over. And you brought their children into it. 24Their children went into the land. They took it as their own. You brought the Canaanites under Israel’s control. The Canaanites lived in the land. But you handed them over to Israel. You also handed over their kings and the other nations in the land to Israel. You allowed Israel to deal with them just as they wanted to. 25Your people captured cities that had high walls around them. They also took over the rich land in Canaan. They took houses filled with all kinds of good things. They took over wells that had already been dug. They took many vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees. They ate until they were very full and satisfied. They were filled with joy because you were so good to them.
26“But they didn’t obey you. Instead, they turned against you. They turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets. The prophets had warned them to return to you. But they did very evil things that dishonored you. 27So you handed them over to their enemies, who treated them badly. Then they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them. You loved them very much. So you sent leaders to help them. The leaders saved them from the power of their enemies.
28“Then the people were enjoying peace and rest again. That’s when they did what you did not want them to do. Then you handed them over to their enemies. So their enemies ruled over them. When they cried out to you again, you heard them from heaven. You loved them very much. So you saved them time after time.
29“You warned them so that they would obey your law again. But they became proud. They didn’t obey your commands. They sinned against your rules. You said, ‘Anyone who obeys my rules will live by them.’ But the people didn’t care about that. They turned their backs on you. They became very stubborn. They refused to listen to you. 30For many years you put up with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. In spite of that, they didn’t pay any attention. So you handed them over to the nations that were around them. 31But you loved them very much. So you didn’t put an end to them. You didn’t desert them. That’s because you are a gracious God. You are tender and kind.
32“Our God, you are the great God. You are mighty and wonderful. You keep the covenant you made with us. You show us your love. So don’t let all our suffering seem like a small thing to you. We’ve suffered greatly. So have our kings and leaders. So have our priests and prophets. Our people who lived long ago also suffered. And all your people are suffering right now. In fact, we’ve been suffering from the time of the kings of Assyria until today. 33In spite of everything that has happened to us, you have been fair. You have been faithful in what you have done. But we did what was evil. 34Our kings and leaders didn’t follow your law. Our priests and our people before us didn’t follow it either. They didn’t pay any attention to your commands or rules that you warned them to keep. 35They didn’t serve you. They didn’t turn from their evil ways. They didn’t obey you even when they had a kingdom. You were very good to them. And they enjoyed it. You gave them a rich land. It had plenty of room in it. But they still didn’t serve you.
36“Now look at us. We are slaves today. We’re slaves in the land you gave our people of long ago. You gave it to them so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37But we have sinned against you. So its great harvest goes to the kings of Persia. You have placed them over us. They rule over our bodies and cattle just as they please. And we are suffering terribly.
The People Agree to Obey God’s Law
38“So we are making a firm agreement. We’re writing it down. Our leaders are putting their official marks on it. And so are our Levites and priests.”
