_Thanksgiving, Confession, and
Supplication of the Church of the Captivity._
7. I will celebrate the mercies of Jehovah, the praises of
Jehovah,[2] as is seemly for all that Jehovah hath shown us, and the
great goodness towards the house of Israel, which He hath shown them
according to His pity, and the riches of His mercies. 8. He said,
They are my people, children who will not lie;[3] and He became their
Saviour. 9. In all their affliction, He was afflicted,[4] and the
Angel of His face brought them salvation. In His love and in His pity
He redeemed them, and lifted them up, and bare them all the days of
the olden time.
10. But they resisted and vexed His Holy Spirit: then He turned to be
their enemy; He made war upon them. 11. Then His people remembered
the days of the olden time, of Moses: Where is He who brought them up
out of the see with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put
the Spirit of His holiness in the midst of them; 12. who caused the
arm of His majesty to go at the right of Moses; who split the waters
before them, to make Himself an everlasting name; 13. who caused them
to pass through abysses of the deep, like the horse upon the plain,
without their stumbling? 14. Like the cattle which goeth down into
the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah brought them to rest: thus hast
Thou led Thy people, to make Thyself a majestic name.
15. Look from heaven and see, from the habitation of Thy holiness and
majesty! Where is Thy zeal and Thy display of might? The pressure of
Thy bowels and Thy compassions are restrained towards me. 16. For
Thou art our Father; for Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel
knoweth us not.[5] Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer is
from olden time Thy name. 17. O Jehovah, why leadest Thou us astray
from Thy ways, hardenest our heart, so as not to fear Thee? Return
for Thy servants' sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance. 18. For a
little time Thy holy people was in possession. Our adversaries have
trodden down Thy sanctuary. 19. We have become such as He who is from
everlasting has not ruled over, upon whom Thy name was not called.
LXIV.--1. O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, come down, the
mountains would shake before Thy countenance;--2. (wouldst come down)
as fire kindles brushwood, fire causes water to boil; to make known
Thy name to Thine adversaries, that the heathen may tremble before
Thy face! 3. When Thou doest terrible things which we hoped not for;
wouldst come down, (and) mountains shake before Thy countenance![1]
4. For from olden times men have not heard, nor perceived, nor hath
an eye seen, a God beside Thee, who acted on behalf of him that
waiteth for Him. 5. Thou didst meet him that rejoiceth to work
righteousness, when they remembered Thee in Thy ways.
Behold, Thou, Thou art enraged, and we stood as sinners there;
already have we been long in this state, and shall we be saved?[2]
6. We became like the unclean thing, and all our virtues like a
garment soiled with blood; and we all faded away together like the
leaves; and our iniquities, like the storm, they carried us away.
7. And there was no one who called upon Thy name, who aroused himself
to lay firm hold of Thee: for Thou hadst hidden Thy face from us, and
didst melt us into the hand of our transgressions.[3]
8. And now, O Jehovah, Thou art our Father: we are the clay, and Thou
our Maker;[4] and we are all the work of Thy hand. 9. Be not
extremely angry, O Jehovah, and remember not the transgression for
ever! Behold, consider, we beseech Thee, we are Thy people.
10. The cities of Thy holiness have become a pasture-ground; Zion has
become a pasture-ground, Jerusalem a desert. 11. The house of our
holiness and of our adorning, where our fathers praised Thee, is
given up to the fire, and everything that was our delight given up to
devastation. 12. Wilt Thou restrain Thyself in spite of this, O
Jehovah, be silent, and leave us to suffer the utmost?