“ Someone might say to God,‘ I’m guilty of sinning, but I won’t do it anymore.

“有谁对神说：‘我受了责罚，不再犯罪。

“有谁对上帝说：‘我受了责罚，必不再犯罪；

“有谁对神说：‘我受了责罚，必不再犯罪；

“有谁对上帝说，‘我受了管教，不会再犯罪；

有人对神说：‘我忍受了管教，不再有败坏的行为了，

有誰對神說：我受了責罰，不再犯罪；

「有誰對上帝說：『我受了責罰，必不再犯罪；

「有誰對神說：『我受了責罰，必不再犯罪；

「有誰對上帝說，『我受了管教，不會再犯罪；

有人對神說：‘我忍受了管教，不再有敗壞的行為了，

『有誰對上帝說過：「我擔受了責罰，我不再有敗壞的行為了。

有誰謂上帝曰、我既受責、不再犯罪、

爾宜告上帝曰、我既受爾譴責、必不再蹈前愆、

爾當告天主曰、我既受責、不敢再犯、

“ Suppose someone says to God,‘ I am guilty but will offend no more.

“ For has anyone said to God,‘ I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more;

“ Why don’t people say to God,‘ I have sinned, but I will sin no more’?

Suppose someone says to God,“ I have endured my punishment; I will no longer act wickedly.

“ For has anyone said to God,‘ I have endured punishment; I will not offend anymore;

“ For has anyone said to God,‘ I have borne chastening; I will offend no more;

For hath any said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:

Suppose someone says to God,“ I have endured my punishment; I will no longer act wickedly.

Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne[ chastisement], I will not offend[ any more]:

“ Has anyone said to God,‘ I have endured chastisement, but I will not act wrongly any more.

“ For has any said to God,‘ I am guilty, but I will not offend any more.

Then that person will come to others and say,‘ I sinned. I made what is wrong appear to be right. But I wasn’t punished as I should have been.

We’ve sinned against the Lord. So he is angry with us. His anger will continue until he takes up our case. Then he’ll do what is right for us. He’ll bring us out into the light. Then we’ll see him save us.

So I hate myself. I’m really sorry for what I said about you. That’s why I’m sitting in dust and ashes.”

Job replied to the Lord,“ I’m not worthy. How can I reply to you? I’m putting my hand over my mouth. I’ll stop talking.I spoke once. But I really don’t have any answer. I spoke twice. But I won’t say anything else.”

In 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.Our 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.They 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.“ 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.But 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.“ 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.”

“ Lord, you always do what is right. But we are covered with shame today. We are the people of Judah and Jerusalem. All of us are Israelites, no matter where we live. We are now living in many countries. You scattered us among the nations because we weren’t faithful to you.Lord, we are covered with shame. So are our kings and princes, and our people of long ago. We have sinned against you.You are the Lord our God. You show us your tender love. You forgive us. But we have turned against you.You are the Lord our God. But we haven’t obeyed you. We haven’t kept the laws you gave us through your servants the prophets.All the people of Israel have broken your law and turned away from it. They have refused to obey you.“ Curses and warnings are written down in the Law of Moses. He was your servant. Those curses have been poured out on us. That’s because we have sinned against you.The warnings you gave us and our rulers have come true. You have brought great trouble on us. Nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever happened anywhere else on earth.The curses that are written in the Law of Moses have fallen on us. We have received nothing but trouble. You are the Lord our God. But we haven’t asked for your favor. We haven’t turned away from our sins. We’ve refused to pay attention to the laws you gave us.Lord, you didn’t hold back from bringing this trouble on us. You always do what is right. But we haven’t obeyed you.

“ Our evil acts and our terrible sins have brought about the things that have happened to us. You are our God. Because we sinned so much, you should have punished us even more than you have. But you have left many of your people alive.Suppose we don’t obey your commands again. And suppose we continue to marry people who commit sins that you hate. If we do, you will be so angry with us that you will destroy us. You won’t leave us even a few people. You won’t leave anyone alive.

“ I have heard the groans of Ephraim’s people. They say,‘ You corrected us like a calf you were training. And we have been trained. Bring us back to you, and we will come back. You are the Lord our God.After we wandered away from you, we turned away from our sins. After we learned our lesson, we beat our chests in sorrow. We were full of shame. What we did when we were young brought dishonor on us.’

What you did made me become your enemy. I let your enemies take you into their land. But suppose you stop being stubborn. You stop being proud. And you pay for your sin.