Ezra 9
World English Bible
9 Now when these things were done, the princes came near to me, saying, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, following their abominations, even those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy offspring have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands. Yes, the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this trespass.”
3 When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled the hair out of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded. 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel were assembled to me, because of their trespass of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening offering.
5 At the evening offering I rose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to Yahweh my God; 6 and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God; for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens. 7 Since the days of our fathers we have been exceedingly guilty to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. 8 Now for a little moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and revive us a little in our bondage. 9 For we are bondservants; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
10 “Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land, to which you go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness. 12 Now therefore don’t give your daughters to their sons. Don’t take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever; that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’
13 “After all that has come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant, 14 shall we again break your commandments, and join ourselves with the peoples that do these abominations? Wouldn’t you be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there would be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 Yahweh, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold,[a] we are before you in our guiltiness; for no one can stand before you because of this.”
Footnotes
- 9:15 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
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.”
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