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A Prayer of Ezra

Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents[a] who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race[b] has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all this unfaithfulness!”

When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 9:1 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.” So also in v. 2.
  2. Ezra 9:2 tn Heb “the holy seed,” referring to the Israelites as God’s holy people.

Denunciation of Mixed Marriages

After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.(A) For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons. Thus the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and in this faithlessness the officials and leaders have led the way.”(B) When I heard this, I tore my garment and my mantle and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.(C)

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