New American Standard Bible 1995
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 iniquities have 1risen above our heads and our 2guilt has grown even 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 on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering. 5But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and 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 iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. 7Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day. 8But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant 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
- and I saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- O my Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- I am ashamedבּוֹשׁbûsh · be ashamedH954
- and embarrassedכָּלַםkâlam · be humiliatedH3637
- to liftרוּםrûm · to exaltH7311
- up my faceפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440
- for our iniquitiesעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
- risenרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
- aboveמַ֫עַלma‛al · aboveH4605
- our headsרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
- guiltאַשְׁמָה'ashmâh · guiltinessH819
- has grownגָּדַלgâdal · to magnifyH1431
- evenעַד‛ad · tillH5704
- to the heavensשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
Cross-references for Ezra 9:6
- Job 40:4“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.
- Job 42:6Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Jeremiah 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a harlot’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 6:15Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 8:12Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not 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 brought down,” Says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 31:19For after I turned back, I repented; And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
- Ezekiel 16:63so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord God declares.
- Daniel 9:7“Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day--to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.
- Romans 6:21Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
- Genesis 13:13Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.
- Psalms 38:4For my iniquities are gone over my head; 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 as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.
- Isaiah 59:12For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities:
- 2 Chronicles 28:9But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the army which came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has even reached 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 have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
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
Notes
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
New American Standard Bible 1995 — © 1960–1995 The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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