Ezra 9

Ezra Chapter 9 ESV

1Ezra mourneth for the intermarriages of the people with strangers. 5He prayeth unto God with confession of sins.
1 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the 1Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands 2with their abominations, from the 3Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
2 1For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the 2holy racea has 3mixed 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 1tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and 2sat appalled.
4 Then all who 1trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat 2appalled until the evening sacrifice.
5 And at the 1evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment 2and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees 3and 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 1have risen higher than our heads, and our 2guilt has 3mounted up to the heavens.
7 1From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great 2guilt. 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, 3and 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 1remnant and to give us a 2secure holda within his holy place, that our God may 3brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery.
9 1For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, 2but 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 protectiona 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 1their uncleanness.
12 1Therefore 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 2and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’
13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for 1our great guilt, seeing that you, our 2God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a 3remnant as this,
14 shall we break your commandments again and 1intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us 2until you consumed us, so that there should be no 3remnant, nor any to escape?
15 O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a 1remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our 2guilt, 3for none can stand before you because of this.”
Ezra 9

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