16 Don't put limits on what the Lord our God can do. God is not a mere human. He cannot be threatened or forced into doing something.
17 All we can do is pray for his help and wait for him to rescue us from our enemies. It is up to God to answer us when he chooses.
18 It's true that many of our ancestors worshiped gods made by human hands. Yet none of us alive today has ever sinned like that.
19 Enemies violently abused and killed our ancestors because they worshiped these gods.
20 But since we worship only the Lord God, I pray that he will not reject us or any of our people.
21 If our town is captured, then before long all of Judea will fall and our temple in Jerusalem will be in ruins. And if the temple becomes an unfit place for worship, God will make us pay with our lives.
22 He will punish us for the slaughter of our people and for the destruction and capture of the land he gave us as our own. We will be slaves to other nations, and they will insult and make fun of us.