Ezra 9
English Standard Version
Ezra Prays About Intermarriage
9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the (A)Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands (B)with their abominations, from the (C)Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 (D)For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the (E)holy race[a] has (F)mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” 3 As soon as I heard this, I (G)tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and (H)sat appalled. 4 Then all who (I)trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat (J)appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 And at the (K)evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment (L)and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees (M)and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 6 saying:
“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities (N)have risen higher than our heads, and our (O)guilt has (P)mounted up to the heavens. 7 (Q)From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great (R)guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, (S)and to utter shame, as it is today. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a (T)remnant and to give us a (U)secure hold[b] within his holy place, that our God may (V)brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 (W)For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, (X)but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection[c] in Judea and Jerusalem.
10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with (Y)their uncleanness. 12 (Z)Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land (AA)and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for (AB)our great guilt, seeing that you, our (AC)God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a (AD)remnant as this, 14 shall we break your commandments again and (AE)intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us (AF)until you consumed us, so that there should be no (AG)remnant, nor any to escape? 15 O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a (AH)remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our (AI)guilt, (AJ)for none can stand before you because of this.”
Ezra 9
New American Standard Bible
Mixed Marriages
9 Now when these things had been completed, the officials approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not (A)separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, (B)as to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For (C)they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that (D)the holy [a]race has (E)intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the officials and the leaders have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness.” 3 When I heard about this matter, I (F)tore my garment and my robe, and pulled out some of the hair from my head and my beard, and (G)sat down [b]appalled. 4 Then (H)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 [c]appalled until (I)the evening offering.
Prayer of Confession
5 But at the evening offering I stood up from my [d]humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and (J)spread out my [e]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 [f]risen above our heads, and our (K)guilt has grown even to the heavens. 7 (L)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 [g](M)open shame, as it is this day. 8 But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, (N)to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a [h](O)peg in His holy place, so that our God may (P)enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 (Q)For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not abandoned us, but (R)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 (S)with their impurity. 12 So now do not (T)give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, and (U)never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, and (V)leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’ 13 And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and (W)our great guilt, since You our God have spared us by inflicting less than our wrongdoing deserves, and have given us such (X)an escaped remnant as this, 14 (Y)shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples [i]who commit these abominations? (Z)Would You not be angry with us [j]to the point of destruction, until there would be no remnant nor any who would escape? 15 Lord God of Israel, (AA)You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in (AB)our guilt, for (AC)no one can stand before You because of this.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
