Ezra 9

9 ¹ Now when these things were finished, the officials approached me and said, "The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples and their detestable practices — from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ² For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy offspring has mingled with the surrounding peoples. And the hand of the officials and leaders has been foremost in this unfaithfulness."

³ When I heard this, I tore my garment and my robe, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down appalled. ⁴ Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, our Father, gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat appalled until the evening offering. ^a a v4 The evening offering was the regular daily sacrifice made around three in the afternoon.

⁵ At the evening offering I rose from my time of humbling, and with my garment and robe torn, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to my Father, ⁶ and I said: "My Father, I am ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my Father, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our ancestors to this day we have been deep in great guilt, and because of our iniquities 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 on our faces, as it is this day. ⁸ But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from our Father, leaving us a remnant of survivors and giving us a firm foothold in his holy place, so that he may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. ⁹ For we are slaves; yet our Father has not abandoned us in our slavery. He has extended his covenant love to us before the kings of Persia, reviving us to raise up the house of our Father, to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ And now, our Father, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹ which you commanded through your servants the prophets, saying: 'The land you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurity of its peoples, by the detestable practices that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. ¹² So now, do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.'

¹³ After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt — and even then you, our Father, have held back, punishing us less than our iniquities deserved, and have given us a remnant such as this ¹⁴ —shall we again break your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who practice these detestable things? Would you not be angry with us until you had made an end of us, leaving no remnant and no survivor? ¹⁵ Our Father, God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant of survivors, as it is this day. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand in your presence."