Ezra 9:2-15

2For 1they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that 2the holy 3line has 4intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the officials and the leaders have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness.” 3When I heard about this matter, I 5tore my garment and my robe, and pulled out some of the hair from my head and my beard, and 6sat down 7appalled. 4Then 8everyone who was frightened by the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat 9appalled until 10the evening offering.

5But at the evening offering I stood up from my 11humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and 12spread out my 13hands to the Lord my God; 6and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongful deeds have 14risen above our heads, and our 15guilt has grown even to the heavens. 716Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our wrongful deeds we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to 1718open shame, as it is this day. 8But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, 19to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a 2021peg in His holy place, so that our God may 22enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. 923For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not abandoned us, but 24has extended favor to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to erect the house of our God, to restore its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

10“And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned Your commandments, 11which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and 25with their impurity. 12So now do not 26give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, and 27never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, and 28leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’ 13And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and 29our great guilt, since You our God have spared us by inflicting less than our wrongdoing deserves, and have given us such 30an escaped remnant as this, 1431shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples 32who commit these abominations? 33Would You not be angry with us 34to the point of destruction, until there would be no remnant nor any who would escape? 15Lord God of Israel, 35You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in 36our guilt, for 37no one can stand before You because of this.”