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words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and
I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.
5
And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and
my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the L
ORD
my God.
6
And said, O
my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased
over
our
head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
7
Since 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, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and
to confusion of face, as
it is
this day.
8
And now for a little space grace hath been
shewed
from the
L
ORD
our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God
may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9
For we
were
bondmen; yet our
God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings
of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof,
and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
10
And now, O 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, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of
the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with
their uncleanness.
12
Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their
daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and
eat the good of the land, and leave
it
for an inheritance to your children for ever.
13
And after all
that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast
punished us less than our iniquities
deserve,
and hast given us
such
deliverance as this;
14
Should
we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations?
wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed
us,
so that
there should be
no remnant
nor escaping?
15
O L
ORD
God of Israel, thou
art
righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as
it is
this
day: behold, we
are
before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
CHAPTER 10
Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before
the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and
women and children: for the people wept very sore.
2
And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel,
one
of the
sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken
strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.
3
Now
therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of
them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our
God; and let it be done according to the law.
4
Arise; for
this
matter
belongeth
unto thee: we also
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KJV Bible