Ezra 9
1 Some time later after all this had happened, the leaders came and told me, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the people around us whose disgusting religious practices are similar to those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, [even] of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
2 Some Israelites have even married women from these people, both themselves and their sons, mixing the holy race with these people of the land. Our leaders and officials are at the forefront of this sinful behavior.”
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of [those] lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
3 When I heard about this, I tore my clothes, pulled out some hair from my head and beard, and sat down, absolutely appalled.
And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.
4 Everyone who respected the instructions of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this sin on the part of the exiles. I sat there shocked and appalled until the evening sacrifice.
Then were assembled to me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat confounded until the evening sacrifice.
5 At the evening sacrifice, I stood up from where I had been sitting in grief, with my clothes torn, and I kneeled down and held out my hands to the Lord my God.
And at the evening sacrifice I arose from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,
6 I prayed, “My God, I am so ashamed and embarrassed to come and pray to you, my God, because we are in over our heads in sin, and our guilt has risen to the heavens.
And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over [our] head, and our trespass is grown up to the heavens.
7 From the time of our forefathers to now, we have been deeply guilty. Because of our sins, we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the earth, killed and taken prisoner, robbed and humiliated, just like we are today.
Since the days of our fathers [have] we [been] in a great trespass to this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, [and] our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as [it is] this day.
8 Now for a short time the Lord our God has given us grace, preserving a few of us as a remnant, and giving us safety in his holy place. Our God has brightened our lives by giving us some relief from our slavery.
And now for a little space grace hath been [shown] from the LORD 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 give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9 Though we are slaves, our God did not abandon us in our slavery, but he showed us his trustworthy love by making the kings of Persia kind to us, by reviving us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruined state, and by giving us a wall of protection around Judah and Jerusalem.
For we [were] bond-men; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations of it, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
10 But now, our God, what do we have to say for ourselves after all this? For we have given up following your commands
And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
11 that you gave through your servants the prophets, telling us, ‘The land you are entering to become its owners is contaminated by the sins of its peoples, the disgusting religious practices that they have filled it with, from one side to the other.
Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, to which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
12 So do not let your daughters marry their sons, or allow their daughters marry your sons. Never make a peace or friendship treaty with them, so that you may live well and eat the good food the land produces, and give the land as an inheritance to your children forever.’
Now therefore give not your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave [it] for an inheritance to your children for ever.
13 Now that we are receiving all this punishment because of our sinful actions and our terrible guilt—though you, our God, have not punished us as much as our sins deserve, and have still given us this remnant—
And after all that hath come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities [deserve], and hast given us [such] deliverance as this;
14 shall we break your commandments once again and intermarry with the peoples who commit these disgusting religious practices? Wouldn't you become so angry with us that you would destroy us? No remnant would be left, not a single survivor.
Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed [us], so that [there should be] no remnant nor escaping?
15 Lord, God of Israel, you do what is right. Today we're all that is left, a remnant. We are before you in our guilt, but no one can stand before you because of it.”
O LORD God of Israel, thou [art] righteous: for we having escaped, remain yet, as [it is] this day: behold, we [are] before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
