When Israel was led away in exile to a foreign land, in their turning away from the Lord who had redeemed them, they were cast off from the inheritance which the Lord had given them.
Among every nation is the dispersion of Israel according to the word of God, so that you may be justified, O God, in your righteousness, in our lawless deeds; because you are a righteous judge over all the peoples of the earth.
For no one doing wrong will be hidden from your knowledge, and the righteous acts of your holy ones are before you, Lord; and where will a man be hidden from your knowledge, O God?
Our works are in the choosing and authority of our soul, to do righteousness and unrighteousness, in the works of our hands, and in your righteousness you visit the sons of men.
He who does righteousness stores up life for himself with the Lord, and he who does unrighteousness, he himself is the cause of his soul in destruction; for the judgments of the Lord are in righteousness, according to man and house.
To whom will God be kind except to those who call on the Lord? You will cleanse the soul in sins in confession, in acts of atonement, because shame belongs to us and to our faces concerning everything.
And to whom will you forgive sins if not to those who have sinned? You will bless the righteous and will not judge concerning the things in which they sinned, and your kindness is upon those sinning in repentance.
And now you are God, and we are the people whom you loved; look and have compassion, O God of Israel, because we are yours, and do not remove your mercy from us, lest they attack us