Ezra, Chapter 9:
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Verses from Ezra, Chapter 9 of the book of Ezra in the Bible.
Ezra's prayer due to mixed marriages
- 1. After all these things, the leaders came to me and said: “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the neighboring peoples and their abominable practices, such as those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites , Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites.
- 2. They took wives from among these people and mixed the holy lineage with them. The leaders and officers were the first to practice this infidelity!”
- 3. When I heard this, I tore my clothes and my cloak, plucked the hair from my head and from my beard, and sat down in a daze!
- 4. All who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles. I sat there, stunned, until the afternoon sacrifice.
- 5. Then, during the evening sacrifice, I arose from my despondency, with my clothes torn, and fell on my knees with my hands outstretched before the Lord my God,
- 6. and I prayed, saying:
- 7. O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face before you, for our sins have accumulated upon us, and our guilt reaches to the heavens.
- 8. From the days of our ancestors to this day, we have been deeply guilty. Because of our sins, we, our kings and our priests were delivered to the sword, to captivity, to spoil and to shame before foreign kings, as is the case in this day.
- 9. Yet for a brief moment the Lord our God has been merciful to us. He left us a remnant and gave us a safe place in his sanctuary, enlightening our eyes and giving us some relief from our bondage.
- 10. We are still slaves, but our God has not abandoned us in our slavery. He has shown kindness to us before the kings of Persia, granting us life to rebuild the temple of our God and raise up its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
- 11. Now, O our God, what more can we say to this? For we have abandoned the commandments which you gave us through your servants the prophets, when you warned us, saying: “The land to which you are going to possess it is an unclean land, corrupted by the abominable practices of the people who live there. They filled the earth with their impurity through these practices.
- 12. Therefore do not give your daughters in marriage to your sons, nor take your daughters to your sons. Never seek the well-being of these people or their prosperity, so that you may become strong and enjoy the good fruits of the land, leaving it as an inheritance to your children forever.”
- 13. After all that has happened to us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt, although You have punished us less than our sins deserved, O God, and yet You have left us a remnant like this,
- 14. How can we go back and break your commandments again by getting involved in mixed marriages with these people who practice abominations? Would you not be angry with us to the point of destroying us completely, leaving no remnant or survivor?
- 15. O Lord, God of Israel, you are righteous! Now, even with all our guilt, you left us a remnant that survives to this day. Here we stand before you, with our guilt, because we know that, because of it, we cannot remain in your presence.
