| Chapter 9
|
| 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. |
| 2
| 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. |
| 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. |
|
4 | 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. |
| 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 LORD 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 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. |
| 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 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. |
