Ezra's Confession over Intermarriage and Plea for Mercy
Ezra 9:1-15
1When these things had ended, the rulers approached me and said, The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands according to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Meunites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.2For they have taken their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and the holy seed has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; moreover, the hand of the rulers and the officials has been foremost in this unfaithfulness.3When I heard this word, I tore my garment and my robe, plucked hair from my head and my beard, and sat down desolate.4Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered to me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat desolate until the evening offering.5At the evening offering I rose from my fasting. With my garment and robe torn, I knelt on my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God.6I said, My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift my face to you, my God, because our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.7From the days of our fathers until this day we have been in great guilt. Because of our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to shame of face, as it is this day.8But now, for a brief moment, favor has come from the LORD our God, leaving us a remnant and granting us a foothold in his holy place, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our slavery.9For we are servants, yet in our slavery our God has not forsaken us. He has extended kindness to us before the kings of Persia, granting us reviving to rebuild the house of our God, to restore its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.10And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments.11You commanded them through your servants the prophets, saying, "The land you are entering to possess is an impure land, polluted by the impurity of the peoples of the lands through their abominations with which they have filled it from one end to the other by their uncleanness."12Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons; do not seek their peace or prosperity forever, so that you may be strong, eat the good of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.13After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt—for you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this—14shall we again break your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Will you not be angry with us until you have consumed us, leaving neither remnant nor survivor?15O LORD, God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Behold, we stand before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.