Christian Standard Bible
Ezra 9:6
6And I said: My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward you, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads and our guilt is as high as 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
4Everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me, because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat devastated until the evening offering. 5At the evening offering, I got up from my time of humiliation, with my tunic and robe torn. Then I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. And I said: My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward you, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads and our guilt is as high as the heavens. 7Our guilt has been terrible from the days of our ancestors until the present. Because of our iniquities we have been handed over, along with our kings and priests, to the surrounding kings, and to the sword, captivity, plundering, and open shame, as it is today. 8But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the Lord our God to preserve a remnant for us and give us a stake in his holy place. Even in our slavery, God has given us a little relief and light to our eyes.
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 40:4I am so insignificant. How can I answer you? I place my hand over my mouth.
- Job 42:6Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them; I am dust and ashes.
- Jeremiah 3:3This is why the showers haven’t come — why there has been no spring rain. You have the brazen look of a prostitute and refuse to be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 6:15Were they ashamed when they acted so detestably? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 8:12Were they ashamed when they acted so detestably? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse,” says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 31:19After my return, I felt regret; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”
- Ezekiel 16:63so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth again because of your disgrace. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’”
- Daniel 9:7Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel — those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you.
- Romans 6:21So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death.
- Genesis 13:13(Now the men of Sodom were evil, sinning immensely against the Lord.)
- Psalms 38:4For my iniquities have flooded over my head; they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.
- Isaiah 1:18“Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.
- Isaiah 59:12For our transgressions have multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities:
- 2 Chronicles 28:9A prophet of the Lord named Oded was there. He went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Look, the Lord God of your ancestors handed them over to you because of his wrath against Judah, but you slaughtered them in a rage that has reached heaven.
- Luke 15:21The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’
- Revelation 18:5For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
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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