Ezra 9
1 Now, when these things were ended, the rulers drew near unto me, saying, The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not kept themselves separate from the peoples of the lands, —in view of their abominations-even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites;
And when these things were finished, the princes drew near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands in their abominations, [even] the Chananite, the Ethite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, and the Moserite and the Amorite.
2 for they have taken of their daughters, for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have intermingled themselves among the peoples of the lands, —and, the hand of the rulers and the deputies, hath, in this unfaithfulness, been, foremost.
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and their sons; and the holy seed has passed among the nations of the lands, and the hand of the rulers [has been] first in this transgression.
3 When I heard this thing, I rent my garment, and my robe, —and tore out of the hair of my head and my beard, and sat stunned.
And when I heard this thing, I rent my garments, and trembled, and plucked [some] of the hairs of my head and of my beard, and sat down mourning.
4 Then, unto me, were gathered, all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, concerning the unfaithfulness of them who had been exiled, —but, I, sat stunned, until the evening gift.
Then there assembled to me all that followed the word of the God of Israel, on account of the transgression of the captivity; and I remained mourning until the evening sacrifice.
5 And, at the evening gift, I arose from mine affliction, which had been accompanied by the rending of my garment and my robe, —and I bowed upon my knees, and spread forth my hands unto Yahweh my God;
And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my humiliation; and when I had rent my garments, then I trembled, and I bow myself on my knees, and spread out my hands to the Lord God,
6 and said, O my God, I turn pale and am ashamed, to lift up, O my God, my face unto thee, —for, our iniquities, have multiplied above the head, and our guilt hath magnified itself unto the heavens.
and I said, O Lord, I am ashamed and confounded, O my God, to lift up my face to thee: for our transgressions have abounded over our head, and our trespasses have increased even to heaven.
7 Since the days of our fathers, we, have been in great guilt, until this day, —and, for our iniquities, have we been given up—we, our kings, our priests, —into the hand of the kings of the lands, by sword and by captivity and by spoiling and by a turning pale of face, as at this day.
From the days of our fathers we have been in a great trespass until this day: and because of our iniquities we, and our kings, and our children, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the Gentiles by the sword, and by captivity, and by spoil, and with shame of our face, as at this day.
8 And, now, for a very little moment, hath come favour from Yahweh our God, in leaving to us a remnant to escape, and in giving to us a nail in his holy place, —that our God may enlighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
And now our God has dealt mercifully with us, so as to leave us to escape, and to give us an establishment in the place of his sanctuary, to enlighten our eyes, and to give a little quickening in our servitude.
9 For, bondmen, we are, but, in our bondage, hath our God not forsaken us, —but extended unto us lovingkindness before the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up on high the house of our God, to raise up the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
For we are slaves, yet in our servitude the Lord our God has not deserted us; and he has extended favour to us in the sight of the kings of the Persians, to give us a quickening, that they should raise up the house of our God, and restore the desolate places of it, and to give us a fence in Juda and Jerusalem.
10 But, now, what can we say, O our God, after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
What shall we say, our God, after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
11 which thou didst command by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying, As for the land which, ye, are entering to possess, an impure land, it is, with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, —with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to the other, with their uncleanness.
which thou hast given us by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, into which ye go to inherit it, is a land subject to disturbance by the removal of the people of the nations for their abominations, wherewith they have filled it from one end to the other by their uncleanness.
12 Now, therefore, your daughters, do not ye give to their sons, and, their daughters, do not ye take for your sons, neither shall ye seek their prosperity nor their pleasure unto times age-abiding, —to the end ye may become strong, and may eat the good of the land, and may suffer your children to possess it, unto times age-abiding.
And now give not your daughters to their sons, and take not of their daughters for your sons, neither shall ye seek their peace or their good for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and transmit it as an inheritance to your children for ever.
13 And, after all that hath come upon us, for our wicked doings, and for our great guilt—For, thou, O our God, hast spared us, punishing us less than our iniquities deserved, and hast given us a deliverance such as this,
And after all that is come upon us because of our evil deeds, and our great trespass, [it is clear] that there is none such as our God, for thou has lightly visited our iniquities, and given us deliverance;
14 should we again break thy commandments and join ourselves by affinity of marriage with the peoples of these abominations, —wouldst thou not be angry with us, unto a full end, that there should be neither remainder nor deliverance?
whereas we have repeatedly broken thy commandments, and intermarried with the people of the lands: be not very angry with us to [our] utter destruction, so that there should be no remnant or escaping one.
15 O Yahweh, God of Israel, righteous thou art, for we have had left us a deliverance as at this day, —here we are, before thee, in our guilty deeds, for there is no standing before thee, because of this thing!
O Lord God of Israel, thou [art] righteous; for we remain [yet] escaped, as at this day: behold, we [are] before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee on this account.
