1 Be gracious unto me, O God, according to Thy mercy; according to the multitude of Thy compassions blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
6 Remember, O LORD, Thy compassions and Thy mercies; for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Thy mercy remember Thou me, for Thy goodness' sake, O LORD.
11 Thou, O LORD, wilt not withhold Thy compassions from me; let Thy mercy and Thy truth continually preserve me.
5 Well is it with the man that dealeth graciously and lendeth, that ordereth his affairs rightfully.
1 A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths have I called Thee, O LORD.
2 Lord, hearken unto my voice; let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
13 He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy.
18 Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth the iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.
1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.
3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
4 And the thing was right in the eyes of the king and of all the congregation.
5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem; for they had not kept it in great numbers according as it is written.
6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying: 'Ye children of Israel, turn back unto the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to the remnant that are escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, who acted treacherously against the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that He delivered them to be an astonishment, as ye see.
8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into His sanctuary, which He hath sanctified for ever, and serve the LORD your God, that His fierce anger may turn away from you.
9 For if ye turn back unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that led them captive, and shall come back into this land; for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away His face from you, if ye return unto Him.'
10 So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun; but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
11 Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
12 Also in Judah was the hand of God to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the LORD.
13 And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.
14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
15 Then they killed the passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt-offerings into the house of the LORD.
16 And they stood in their place after their order, according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests dashed the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites.
17 For there were many in the congregation that had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had the charge of killing the passover lambs for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.
18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying: 'The good LORD pardon
19 every one that setteth his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification that pertaineth to holy things.'
20 And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
21 And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.
22 And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly unto all the Levites that were well skilled in the service of the LORD. So they did eat throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace-offerings, and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
23 And the whole congregation took counsel to keep other seven days; and they kept other seven days with gladness.
24 For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation for offerings a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep; and priests sanctified themselves in great numbers.
25 And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.
27 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard of the LORD , and their prayer came up to His holy habitation, even unto heaven.
1 saying: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, may he return unto her again? Will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; and wouldest thou yet return to Me? saith the LORD.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high hills, and see: Where hast thou not been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy harlotries and with thy wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
4 Didst thou not just now cry unto Me: 'My father, Thou art the friend of my youth.
5 Will He bear grudge for ever? Will He keep it to the end?' Behold, thou hast spoken, but hast done evil things, and hast had thy way.
6 And the LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king: 'Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel did? she went up upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree, and there played the harlot.
7 And I said: After she hath done all these things, she will return unto me; but she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 And I saw, when, forasmuch as backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, that yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot;
9 and it came to pass through the lightness of her harlotry, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks;
10 and yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD--
11 even the LORD said unto me--backsliding Israel hath proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; I will not frown upon you; for I am merciful, saith the LORD, I will not bear grudge for ever.
13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and ye have not hearkened to My voice, saith the LORD.
14 Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion;
15 and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the LORD; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they make mention of it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more.
17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem The throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.'
19 But I said: 'How would I put thee among the sons, and give thee a pleasant land, the goodliest heritage of the nations!' And I said: 'Thou shalt call Me, My father; and shalt not turn away from following Me.'
20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
21 Hark! upon the high hills is heard the suppliant weeping of the children of Israel; for that they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings.-- 'Here we are, we are come unto Thee; for Thou art the LORD our God.
23 Truly vain have proved the hills, the uproar on the mountains; truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 But the shameful thing hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day; and we have not hearkened to the voice of the LORD our God.'
31 Nevertheless in Thy manifold mercies Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art a gracious and merciful God.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
17 And let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; establish Thou also upon us the work of our hands; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have compassion upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have compassion upon you; for the LORD is a God of justice, happy are all they that wait for Him.