Amplified Bible
Ezra 9:6
6and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongdoings have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown to the heavens.
Ezra 9:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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 unto the heavens.
- New International Version (NIV)and prayed: “I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.
- English Standard Version (ESV)saying: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.
Context of Ezra 9:6
4Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me as I sat appalled until the evening offering. 5At the evening offering I arose from my [time of] humiliation and penitence and having torn my clothing and my robe, I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God, and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongdoings have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown to the heavens. 7Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been exceedingly guilty; and on account of our wrongdoings we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to complete shame, as it is today. 8But now for a brief moment grace has been [shown to us] from the Lord our God, who has left us a surviving remnant and has given us a peg (secure hold) in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
Read all of Ezra 9Ezra 9:6 word by word
וָאֹמְרָ֗ה אֱלֹהַי֙ בֹּ֣שְׁתִּי וְנִכְלַ֔מְתִּי לְהָרִ֧ים אֱלֹהַ֛י פָּנַ֖י אֵלֶ֑יךָ כִּ֣י עֲוֹנֹתֵ֤ינוּ רָבוּ֙ לְמַ֣עְלָה רֹּ֔אשׁ וְאַשְׁמָתֵ֥נוּ גָדְלָ֖ה עַ֥ד לַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- O my Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- I am ashamedבּוֹשׁbûsh · be ashamedH954
- and blushכָּלַםkâlam · be humiliatedH3637
- to lift upרוּםrûm · to exaltH7311
- my faceפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440
- for our iniquitiesעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
- are increasedרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
- overמַ֫עַלma‛al · aboveH4605
- headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
- and our trespassאַשְׁמָה'ashmâh · guiltinessH819
- is grown upגָּדַלgâdal · to magnifyH1431
- unto the heavensשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
Cross-references for Ezra 9:6
- Job 40:4“Behold, I am of little importance and contemptible; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.
- Job 42:6Therefore I retract [my words and hate myself] And I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Jeremiah 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you have the forehead (appearance) of a prostitute; You refuse to be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 6:15Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things? No, they were not at all ashamed; They did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry]. Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them They will be overthrown,” says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 8:12Were they ashamed because of the extremely disgusting and shamefully vile things they had done? They were not at all ashamed, And they did not know how to blush. Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they shall be overthrown,” Says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 31:19After I turned away [from You], I repented; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh [in remorse]; I was ashamed and even humiliated Because I carried the disgrace of my youth [as a nation].’
- Ezekiel 16:63so that you may remember [in detail] and be ashamed and never open your mouth again because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” says the Lord God.
- Daniel 9:7“Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us confusion and open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away, in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the [treacherous] acts of unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
- Romans 6:21So what benefit did you get at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? [None!] For the outcome of those things is death!
- Genesis 13:13But the men of Sodom were extremely wicked and sinful against the Lord [unashamed in their open sin before Him].
- Psalms 38:4For my iniquities have gone over my head [like the waves of a flood]; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
- Isaiah 1:18“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool.
- Isaiah 59:12For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O Lord], And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know and recognize our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]:
- 2 Chronicles 28:9But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the army that was returning to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, He handed them over to you; but you have killed them in a rage that has reached as far as heaven.
- Luke 15:21And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
- Revelation 18:5for her sins (crimes, transgressions) have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and crimes [for judgment].
Commentaries on Ezra 9:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6I am ashamed and blush - God had been so often provoked, and had so often pardoned them, and they had continued to transgress, that he was ashamed to go back again to the throne of grace to ask for mercy in their behalf. This is the genuine feeling of every reawakened backslider.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-15Verses 5-15 The sacrifice, especially the evening sacrifice, was a type of the blessed Lamb of God, who in the evening of the world, was to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Ezra's address is a penitent confession of sin, the sin of his people. But let this be the comfort of true penitents, that though their sins reach to the heavens, God's mercy is in the heavens. Ezra, speaking of sin, speaks as one much ashamed. Holy shame is as necessary in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6I am ashamed...our iniquities are higher than our heads: Although Ezra did not commit these sins, he identified with his people (see “Community Identity” Theme Note).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5-155-15. I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God--The burden of his prayer, which was dictated by a deep sense of the emergency, was that he was overwhelmed at the flagrant enormity of this sin, and the bold impiety of continuing in it after having, as a people, so recently experienced the heavy marks of the divine displeasure. God had begun to show returning favor to Israel by the restoration of some. But this only aggravated…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezra 9:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezra 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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