9 1 Ezra complaineth on the people that had turned themselves from God, and married with the Gentiles. 5 He prayeth unto God.

¹ When as these things were done, the rulers came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the Priests, and the Levites are not ^[a]separated from the people of the lands (as touching their abominations) to wit, of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

² For they have taken their daughters to themselves, and to their sons, and they have mixed the holy seed with the people of the lands, and the hand of the ^[b]Princes and rulers have been chief in this trespass.

³ But when I heard this saying, I rent my clothes and my garment, and plucked off the hair of mine head, and of my beard, and sat down ^[c]astonied.

⁴ And there assembled unto me all that feared the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of them of the captivity. And I sat down astonied until the ^(A)evening sacrifice.

⁵ And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from mine heaviness, and when I had rent my clothes and my garment, I fell upon my knees, and spread out mine hands unto the Lord my God,

⁶ And said, O my God, I am confounded and ashamed to lift up mine eyes unto thee my God: for our iniquities are increased over ^[d]our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the ^[e]heaven.

⁷ From the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day, and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our Priests been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, unto the sword, into captivity, into a spoil, and into confusion of face, as appeareth this day.

⁸ And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the Lord our God, in causing a remnant to escape, and in giving us a ^[f]nail in his holy place, that our God may light our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our servitude.

⁹ For though we were bondmen, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath inclined mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us life, and to erect the house of our God, and to redress the desolate places thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

¹⁰ And now, our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,

¹¹ Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the Prophets, saying, ^(B)The land whereunto ye go to possess it, is an unclean land, because of the filthiness of the people of the lands, which by their abominations, and by their uncleanness have filled it from corner to corner.

¹² Now therefore shall ye not give your daughters unto their sons, neither shall ye take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their ^(C)peace nor wealth forever, that ye may be strong and eat the goodness of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your sons forever.

¹³ And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespasses, (seeing that thou our God hast stayed us from being beneath ^[g]for our iniquities, and hast given us such deliverance.)

¹⁴ Should we return to break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of such abominations? wouldest not thou be angry toward us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor any escaping?

¹⁵ O Lord God of Israel, thou art just, for we have been ^[h]reserved to escape, as appeareth this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespass: therefore we cannot stand before thee because of it.