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Chapter 9 |
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1 | Now when these things were done, the
princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the
Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing
according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the
Amorites. |
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| For they have taken of their daughters for themselves,
and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the
people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief
in this trespass. |
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3 | And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and
my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down
astonied. |
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| Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at
the 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. |
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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
LORD my God, |
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| 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. |
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8 | And now for a little space grace hath been shewed
from the LORD 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. |
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| 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. |
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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 LORD 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. |
