Ezra 9:6

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 respected the words of Israel's God came around me. They were afraid of what God might do, because the Israelites who came from Babylon had not obeyed him. I continued to sit there, until the time of the evening sacrifice. I was still very upset. 5When the time came for the evening sacrifice, I stood up. I still wore my shirt and coat that I had torn because I was so sad. Then I went down on my knees. I held out my hands and I prayed to the Lord, my God. I said, ‘My God, I am too ashamed to look up at you. Our sins are very great. They are so many that they reach far above us. We are completely guilty. 7Since our ancestors were alive, we have continued to do wrong things. Because of our sins, you have given our enemies power over us, our kings and our priests. Foreign kings and their armies have killed some of our people. They have made some of us prisoners. They have robbed us and they have caused us to be ashamed. And we are still ashamed today. 8But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been kind to us. He has let some of us remain alive. He has given us a safe place to live in this holy place. He has made our lives happier. He has given us rest from work as slaves.

Ezra 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‘I am only a foolish man. I cannot answer your questions. I cover my mouth with my hand so that I say nothing.
• Job 42:6So I am ashamed of the things that I said. I sit here in dirt and in ashes to show you that I am very sorry.’
• Jeremiah 3:3That is why I have not sent any rain on your land. Even the spring rains have not come. But you still live like a proud prostitute. You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.
• Jeremiah 6:15They are not ashamed of the disgusting things that they do. They do not even know what shame is. They have forgotten how to be ashamed. So they will fall to the ground, as other people have fallen. When I decide to punish them, that will be the end of them.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Jeremiah 8:12They are not ashamed of the disgusting things that they do. They do not even know what shame is. They have forgotten how to be ashamed. So they will fall to the ground, as other people have fallen. When I punish them, that will be the end of them.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Jeremiah 31:19After we turned away from you, we were sorry that we had done that. We understood what we had done, and we showed that we were sad. We were ashamed and upset, because of the disgusting things that we did when we were young.”
• Ezekiel 16:63I will forgive you for your sins so that you are no longer guilty. Then you will remember your sins. You will be too ashamed to say anything. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’
• Daniel 9:7Our Lord, you always do what is right. Today we are very ashamed. The people of Judah, Jerusalem and all Israel have not been faithful to you. You have sent our people away to many countries. Some are near and some are far away. We are all ashamed because we have turned away from you.
• Romans 6:21You did things that you are ashamed about now. Nothing good came from them. In the end, the result of those things is death.
• Genesis 13:13The people of Sodom were very wicked. They did not obey the Lord at all.
• Psalms 38:4My sin is too much for me! It is like a heavy weight, that I cannot carry.
• Isaiah 1:18The Lord says, ‘Please come, so that we talk about this together. Even if your sins are like a red stain, they will become as white as snow. Even if they are bright red, they will become like white wool.
• Isaiah 59:12Lord, you see all the bad things that we have done. Our many sins show that we are wrong. We know about the wrong things that we have done. We agree that our sins are many.
• 2 Chronicles 28:9Oded, a prophet of the Lord, lived there. He went to meet Israel's soldiers when they arrived back in Samaria. He said to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah's people. So he let you have power over them to punish them. But you have killed them in a very cruel way. God in heaven has seen what you have done.
• Luke 15:21“Father,” the son said, “I have done bad things against God and against you. So I am not good enough for you to call me your son.”
• Revelation 18:5They have done very many bad things. Their sins have reached as high as heaven. God has remembered to punish them.

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

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Blushing
• Intercession
• Prayer
• Repentance
• Sin

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Chief
• Confession
• Escaping
• Join
• Mingle
• Ashamed
• Captivity
• Esdras, the First Book of

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