Ezra 9:5-7

9:5 At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, ¹  with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God. 9:6 I prayed, ² 

“O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens. 9:7 From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities we, along with our kings and ³  priests, have been delivered over by the local kings ⁴  to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment – right up to the present time.

Ezra 9:13

9:13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint ⁵  toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this.

Ezra 9:15

9:15 O Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Indeed, we stand before you in our guilt. However, because of this guilt ⁶  no one can really stand before you.”

[9:5]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word used here is a hapax legomenon. It refers to the self-abasement that accompanies religious sorrow and fasting.

[9:6]  ² tn Heb “I said.”

[9:7]  ³ tc The MT lacks “and” here, but see the LXX and Vulgate.

[9:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the kings of the lands.”

[9:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “held back downwards from”; KJV “hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (NIV, NRSV, NLT all similar).

[9:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “this”; the referent (the guilt mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.