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

4Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering. 5At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God. I prayed, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens. 7From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities we, along with our kings and priests, have been delivered over by the local kings to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment – right up to the present time. 8“But now briefly we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude.

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“Indeed, I am completely unworthy – how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.
• Job 42:6Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes!
• Jeremiah 3:3That is why the rains have been withheld, and the spring rains have not come. Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.
• Jeremiah 6:15Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things? No, they are not at all ashamed. They do not even know how to blush! So they will die, just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 8:12Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things? No, they are not at all ashamed! They do not even know how to blush! So they will die just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them, says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 31:19For after we turned away from you we repented. After we came to our senses we beat our breasts in sorrow. We are ashamed and humiliated because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’
• Ezekiel 16:63Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent when I make atonement for all you have done, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
• Daniel 9:7“You are righteous, O Lord, but we are humiliated this day – the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you.
• Romans 6:21So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.
• Genesis 13:13(Now the people of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.)
• Psalms 38:4For my sins overwhelm me; like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.
• Isaiah 1:18Come, let’s consider your options,” says the Lord. “Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool.
• Isaiah 59:12For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, and our sins testify against us; indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds; we know our sins all too well.
• 2 Chronicles 28:9Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.
• Luke 15:21Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
• Revelation 18:5because her sins have piled up all the way 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

• 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