Prayer of Manasseh 1 - Common English Bible (CEB)

1 Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors,
God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and their righteous children,
² you made heaven and earth
with all their beauty.
³ You set limits for the sea
by speaking your command.
You closed the bottomless pit,
and sealed it by your powerful
and glorious name.
⁴ All things fear you and tremble
in your presence,
⁵ because no one can endure
the brightness of your glory.
No one can resist the fury
of your threat against sinners.

⁶ But your promised mercies
are beyond measure and imagination,
^{7 a}because you are the highest, Lord,
kind, patient, and merciful,
and you feel sorry over human troubles.

Syriac

^bYou, Lord, according to
your gentle grace,
promised forgiveness to those
who are sorry for their sins.
In your great mercy,
you allowed sinners to turn
from their sins and find salvation.
⁸ Therefore, Lord,
God of those who do what is right,
you didn’t offer
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
who didn’t sin against you,
a chance to change their hearts and lives.
But you offer me, the sinner,
the chance to change my heart and life,
^{9 a}because my sins outnumbered
the grains of sand by the sea.
My sins are many, Lord; they are many.
I am not worthy to look up,
to gaze into heaven
because of my many sins.

Syriac

^{9 b}Now, Lord, I suffer justly.
I deserve the troubles I encounter.
Already I’m caught in a trap.
¹⁰ I’m held down by iron chains
so that I can’t lift up my head
because of my sins.
There’s no relief for me,
because I made you angry,
doing wrong in front of your face,
setting up false gods
and committing offenses.

¹¹ Now I bow down before you
from deep within my heart,
begging for your kindness.
¹² I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned,
and I know the laws I’ve broken.
¹³ I’m praying, begging you:
Forgive me, Lord, forgive me.

Don’t destroy me along with my sins.
Don’t keep my bad deeds
in your memory forever.
Don’t sentence me to the earth’s depths,
for you, Lord, are the God
of those who turn from their sins.
¹⁴ In me you’ll show how kind you are.
Although I’m not worthy,
you’ll save me according
to your great mercy.

¹⁵ I will praise you continuously
all the days of my life,
because all of heaven’s forces praise you,
and the glory is yours
forever and always. Amen.