Ezra 9

Israelites intermarry with pagans

After these things took place, the officials approached me and said, “The Israelites, priests, and Levites haven’t distinguished themselves from the locals who have abominations from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. They have been intermarrying, and the holy race has mixed itself with the locals. And the officials and chiefs have been the ones leading the way in this faithlessness.” As soon as I heard that, I tore my shirt, tore my cloak, pulled hair out of my head, pulled hair out of my beard, and sat down appalled. Then everyone who was scared of what Israel’s God would say gathered around me while I sat appalled until it became time for the evening sacrifice.

Ezra prays

When the evening sacrifice came, I stood up from my fast (with my torn clothes), fell to my knees, and spread out my arms to my God the Existing One, saying:

“Oh, God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to even look at you, because our offenses have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has piled all the way up to the sky. Ever since the days of our forefather, we have accumulated so much guilt. Because of all our offenses, our kings and our priests have been handed over to other kings, to the sword, to captivity, to being looted, and now to this utter shame we find ourselves in today. But now, for a brief moment in history, our God the Existing One has shown us favor by allowing a small remnant of us to secure our hold on this holy place so that our God could cheer us up and allow us to recover from our enslavement. We are nothing but slaves. Instead of forsaking us in our slavery, our God has shown us his steady love in front of Persia’s kings by granting us with a chance to recover, to restore his house, and by protecting us in Judea and Jerusalem.

“Oh God, what can we even say now? We have abandoned the orders you gave through your servants. Your orders said, “Take possession of the land you’re entering. It’s a land full of impurity from the locals who filled it from end to end with their dirty abominations. Don’t intermarry with them, and never seek their peace or prosperity. Be strong and eat its crops, so that your children can have it as an inheritance forever.’ After everything that happened to us because of our evil deeds and guilt, are we now disobeying your orders again and intermarrying with the people who practice these abominations? (Even after you didn’t punish us as much as we deserved?) Won’t you be mad at us until you fully consume us, not even leaving a small remnant alive? Oh Israel’s God the Existing One, you have every right to do that, because we are just a small remnant as it is. We’re so guilty that we can’t even stand in front of you right now.”

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Ezra 10

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Ezra 8