Ezra 9:4-15
New American Standard Bible
4 Then (A)everyone who was frightened by the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat [a]appalled until (B)the evening offering.
Prayer of Confession
5 But at the evening offering I stood up from my [b]humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and (C)spread out my [c]hands to the Lord my God; 6 and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongful deeds have [d]risen above our heads, and our (D)guilt has grown even to the heavens. 7 (E)Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our wrongful deeds we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to [e](F)open shame, as it is this day. 8 But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, (G)to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a [f](H)peg in His holy place, so that our God may (I)enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 (J)For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not abandoned us, but (K)has extended favor to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to erect the house of our God, to restore its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 “And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned Your commandments, 11 which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and (L)with their impurity. 12 So now do not (M)give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, and (N)never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, and (O)leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’ 13 And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and (P)our great guilt, since You our God have spared us by inflicting less than our wrongdoing deserves, and have given us such (Q)an escaped remnant as this, 14 (R)shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples [g]who commit these abominations? (S)Would You not be angry with us [h]to the point of destruction, until there would be no remnant nor any who would escape? 15 Lord God of Israel, (T)You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in (U)our guilt, for (V)no one can stand before You because of this.”
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Ezra 9:4-15
New Living Translation
4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel came and sat with me because of this outrage committed by the returned exiles. And I sat there utterly appalled until the time of the evening sacrifice.
5 At the time of the sacrifice, I stood up from where I had sat in mourning with my clothes torn. I fell to my knees and lifted my hands to the Lord my God. 6 I prayed,
“O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today.
8 “But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery. 9 For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 “And now, O our God, what can we say after all of this? For once again we have abandoned your commands! 11 Your servants the prophets warned us when they said, ‘The land you are entering to possess is totally defiled by the detestable practices of the people living there. From one end to the other, the land is filled with corruption. 12 Don’t let your daughters marry their sons! Don’t take their daughters as wives for your sons. Don’t ever promote the peace and prosperity of those nations. If you follow these instructions, you will be strong and will enjoy the good things the land produces, and you will leave this prosperity to your children forever.’
13 “Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less than we deserve, for you, our God, have allowed some of us to survive as a remnant. 14 But even so, we are again breaking your commands and intermarrying with people who do these detestable things. Won’t your anger be enough to destroy us, so that even this little remnant no longer survives? 15 O Lord, God of Israel, you are just. We come before you in our guilt as nothing but an escaped remnant, though in such a condition none of us can stand in your presence.”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
