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 was frightened by 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 stood up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God; and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongful deeds 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 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 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, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

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

• and I saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• My Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• I amבּוֹשׁbûsh · be ashamedH954
• and humiliatedכָּלַםkâlam · be humiliatedH3637
• to liftרוּםrûm · to exaltH7311
• upרוּםrûm · to exaltH7311
• my faceפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440
• for our wrongfulעָוֺן‛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 say in response to You? I put my hand on my mouth.
• Job 42:6Therefore I retract, And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.”
• Jeremiah 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a prostitute’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed.
• Jeremiah 6:15Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed at all, Nor did they know even how to be ashamed. Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They will collapse,” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 8:12Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed at all, And they did not know how to be ashamed; Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they will collapse,” Says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 31:19For after I turned back, I repented; And after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the shame of my youth.’
• Ezekiel 16:63so that you may remember and be ashamed, and not open your mouth again because of your disgrace, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord God declares.
• Daniel 9:7“Righteousness belongs to You, 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 exceedingly wicked sinners against the Lord.
• Psalms 38:4For my guilty deeds have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
• Isaiah 1:18“Come now, and let us debate your case,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They shall become as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool.
• Isaiah 59:12For our wrongful acts have multiplied before You, And our sins have testified against us; For our wrongful acts are with us, And we know our wrongdoings:
• 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 handed them over to you, and you have killed 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 offenses.

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
• Chief
• Confession
• Escaping
• Join
• Mingle
• Ashamed
• Captivity
• Esdras, the First Book of
• Intercession

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