Ezra 9

Intermarriage with Pagans

9When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not ^aseparated themselves from the peoples of the lands, ^bwith respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ²For they have ^ctaken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the ^dholy seed is ^emixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this ¹trespass.” ³So when I heard this thing, ^fI tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down ^gastonished. ⁴Then everyone who ^htrembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the ⁱevening sacrifice.

⁵At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and ^jspread out my hands to the Lord my God. ⁶And I said: “O my God, I am too ^kashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for ^lour iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has ^mgrown up to the heavens. ⁷Since the days of our fathers to this day ⁿwe have been very guilty, and for our iniquities ^owe, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the ^psword, to captivity, to plunder, and to ^qhumiliation, ²as it is this day. ⁸And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may ^renlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. ^9sFor we were slaves. ^tYet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but ^uHe extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us ^va wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁰And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, ¹¹which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the ^wuncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity. ¹²Now therefore, ^xdo not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; and ^ynever seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and ^zleave it as an inheritance to your children forever.’ ¹³And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God ^ahave punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such deliverance as this, ¹⁴should we ^bagain break Your commandments, and ^cjoin in marriage with the people committing these abominations? Would You not be ^dangry with us until You had ³consumed us, so that there would be no remnant or survivor? ¹⁵O Lord God of Israel, ^eYou are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. ^fHere we are before You, ^gin our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!”