Ezra 9:15 - Prayer Tents



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Ezra 9
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Ezra’s Reaction to Foreign Marriages

9After these things occurred, certain officials approached me and said "The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands or from the detestable behavior of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites,H3615H8269H5066H559H5971H3478H3548H3881H914H5971H776H8441H3669H2850H6522H2983H5984H4125H4713H567 2because they and their sons have married foreign women. As a result, the holy people have mingled themselves among the peoples of these lands. As a matter of fact, the senior officials and the rulers have been foremost in this sin."1H5375H1323H1121H6944H2233H6148H5971H776H3027H8269H5461H7223H4604 3When I heard this, I tore both my garment and robe, plucked hair from both my head and my beard, and collapsed in shock!H8085H1697H7167H899H4598H4803H8181H7218H2206H3427H8074 4Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered together as a group because of the sin committed by those who had been led astray. As for me, I remained seated, in shock, until the evening sacrifice.H622H2730H1697H430H3478H4604H1473H3427H8074H6153H4503

Ezra’s Prayer of Repentance

5At the time of the evening sacrifice, I arose from my discouragement. Still in my torn garment and robe, I fell to my knees with my hands outstretched to the Lord my God,H6153H4503H6965H8589H7167H899H4598H3766H1290H6566H3709H3068H430 6and said, "My God, I am too ashamed and hurt to turn to you, because we're in our iniquities over our heads. Furthermore, my God, our sins have grown as high as the heavens.H559H430H954H3637H7311H6440H430H5771H7235H4605H7218H819H1431H8064 7We have lived in great sin from the days of our ancestors even until today, and because of those iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered over to foreign kings, for execution, for captivity, for plunder, and for humiliation, as is the case today.H3117H1H1419H819H3117H5771H4428H3548H5414H3027H4428H776H2719H7628H961H1322H6440H3117 8Though now, for a moment, grace has been shown from the Lord our God, leaving a few survivors to escape, and providing us a secure hold in his holy place, so that our God might enlighten us and give us relief from our servitude.H4592H7281H8467H3068H430H7604H6413H5414H3489H6944H4725H430H215H5869H5414H4592H4241H5659 9Even though we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our slavery. Instead, he has extended gracious love to us in the presence of the kings of Persia, to grant us revival, to set up the temple of our God, to repair its damage, and to give us a protective wall for Judah and Jerusalem.H5650H430H5800H5659H5186H2617H6440H4428H6539H5414H4241H7311H1004H430H5975H2723H5414H1447H3063H3389 10Now, our God, what can we say besides this?Because we have abandoned your commandmentsH430H559H310H5800H4687 11that you gave in the writings of your servants, the prophets: 'The land you are entering to possess is a morally unclean land due to the moral uncleanness of the peoples of the lands - along with their abominations - that has filled it from one end to the other with their impurities.H6680H3027H5650H5030H559H776H935H3423H5079H776H5079H5971H776H8441H4390H6310H6310H2932 12So, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor marry their daughters to your sons, and under no circumstances are you to seek their well being or their wealth, so that you may remain strong, enjoying the best things the land has to give, and so that you may establish an inheritance for your children forever.'H5414H1323H1121H5375H1323H1121H1875H7965H2896H5704H5769H2388H398H2898H776H3423H1121H5769 13"After all that has happened to us because of our evil behavior, and because of our great sin - considering that you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us this deliverance?H310H935H7451H4639H1419H819H430H2820H4295H5771H5414H6413 14should we violate your commandments by intermarrying with the peoples who practice these abominations?Would you not be angry with us until you had consumed us, with not even a remnant surviving to escape -H7725H6565H4687H2859H5971H8441H599H3615H7611H6413 15Lord God of Israel, you are just: As a result, we remain here today delivered. Look at us! Because of our sin, we cannot stand in your presence as a result of everything that has happened."H3068H430H3478H6662H7604H6413H3117H6440H819H5975H6440


International Standard Version. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version®. Copyright © 1996-forever by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission. More details.
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