⁶ I prayed,

“My God, I am too ashamed and ·embarrassed [disgraced] to lift up my face to you, my God, because our ·sins [iniquities] are so many. They are higher than our heads. Our guilt even ·reaches up [extends] to the ·sky [heavens]. ⁷ From the days of our ·ancestors [fathers] until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our ·sins [iniquities], we, our kings, and our priests have been ·punished by [^Lgiven into the hands of the kings of the land, to] the sword and ·captivity [exile]. Foreign kings have ·taken away our things [plundered; pillaged] and ·shamed [humiliated] us, even as ·it [the case] is today.

⁸ “But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been ·kind [gracious; merciful] to us. He has let ·some of us [a remnant] ·come back from [escape; or survive] ·captivity [exile] and has ·let us live in safety [^Lgiven us a peg; ^Ca tent peg symbolizing pitching a tent after travel] in his holy place. And so our God ·gives us hope [^Lcauses our eyes to shine; ^Cthat is, revives] and a little relief ·from [in] our ·slavery [bondage].