Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. ¹ 

However, due to your abundant mercy you did not do away with them altogether; you did not abandon them. For you are a merciful and compassionate God.

You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess.

You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst.

“You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea. ¹ 

You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully. ¹  It is we who have been in the wrong!

When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a ¹  covenant with him to give his descendants ²  the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, ³  for you are righteous.

You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through ¹  Moses your servant.

We have behaved corruptly against you, not obeying the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded your servant Moses.

But I warned them and said, ¹  “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!” ²  From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath. ³ 

You performed awesome signs ¹  against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians ²  had acted presumptuously ³  against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day.

“Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to ¹  their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again.

You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn ¹  to give them.

You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, ¹  along with all their multitude of stars, ²  the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

You prolonged your kindness ¹  with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, ²  so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ³ 

Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from ¹  their adversaries.

“You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

“You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham.

Then I ¹  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ²  Should you not conduct yourselves ³  in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?

Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible ¹  goodness that you had lavished ²  on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set ³  before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.