⁸ But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a ^(A)remnant and to give us a ^(B)secure hold^[a] within his holy place, that our God may ^(C)brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. ^9 (D)For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, ^(E)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.

¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for ^(A)our great guilt, seeing that you, our ^(B)God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a ^(C)remnant as this, ¹⁴ shall we break your commandments again and ^(D)intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us ^(E)until you consumed us, so that there should be no ^(F)remnant, nor any to escape? ¹⁵ O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a ^(G)remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our ^(H)guilt, ^(I)for none can stand before you because of this.”