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.”
Ezra 9
Revised Standard Version
Denunciation of Mixed Marriages
9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Per′izzites, the Jeb′usites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons; so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” 3 When I heard this, I rent my garments and my mantle, and pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat appalled. 4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered round me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garments and my mantle rent, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 6 saying:
Ezra’s Prayer
“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to thee, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. 7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great 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, and to utter shame, as at this day. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant, and to give us a secure hold[a] within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 For we are bondmen; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, 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[b] in Judea and Jerusalem.
10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken thy commandments, 11 which thou didst command by thy servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land unclean with the pollutions of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12 Therefore give not 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, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that thou, our God, hast punished us less than our iniquities deserved and hast given us such a remnant as this, 14 shall we break thy commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou wouldst consume us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 O Lord the God of Israel, thou art just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as at this day. Behold, we are before thee in our guilt, for none can stand before thee because of this.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.