The Report of Intermarriage
Study note
Soon after Ezra arrived in Jerusalem, the leaders told him shocking news. Many Israelites, including priests and Levites who should have known better, had married women from the surrounding pagan nations. God had specifically forbidden this in the Law of Moses because these marriages would lead the people to worship other gods. Ezra's reaction was intense. He tore his clothes, pulled out his own hair, and sat down in stunned silence. Others who feared God's word gathered around him.
1 The leaders came to me with alarming news. "Israel's people, the priests, and the Levites have not stayed apart from nearby nations. They follow the vile ways of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites." 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 "They have taken wives from these foreign nations for themselves and their sons. God's holy people have mixed with the surrounding peoples. Worst of all, the leaders and officials have been the biggest offenders." 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 When I heard this, I ripped my robe and my outer cloak. I yanked hair from my head and beard and sat down in total shock. 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 Everyone who took God's word seriously gathered around me, shaken by the unfaithfulness of the returned exiles. I sat there stunned until the time of the evening sacrifice. 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.
Ezra's Prayer of Confession
Study note
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Ezra fell to his knees and poured out his heart to God. His prayer is remarkable because he included himself in the guilt, saying 'we' and 'our,' even though he had not married a foreign wife himself. He confessed that Israel's sins had caused the exile to Babylon, and now God had shown grace by letting them return. Yet here they were, breaking God's commands again. Ezra's prayer ended without asking for anything specific. He simply laid the people's sin before God and admitted they had no right to stand in His presence.
5 At the evening sacrifice, I pulled myself up from where I had been grieving. Still wearing my torn robe and cloak, I dropped to my knees, stretched my hands toward the Lord my God, 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 prayed: "My God, I am too ashamed to even look up at you. Our sins have stacked higher than our heads, and our guilt reaches all the way to heaven. 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 "From our ancestors' time until now, we have been very guilty. Because of our sins, we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to foreign rulers. We have faced swords, slavery, robbery, and shame, just as we see today. 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 "Yet right now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious. He has let some of us survive. He has given us a foothold in his sanctuary, brightening our eyes and giving us a little breathing room in the middle of our slavery. 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 "Yes, we were slaves, but God did not abandon us. He moved the Persian kings to show us kindness. He gave us new energy to rebuild his temple and repair its ruins. He gave us a protective wall around Judah and Jerusalem. 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 "But now, God, what can we say? We have abandoned your commands. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
11 "You told us through your prophets: 'The land you are entering is contaminated. The people living there have polluted it from end to end with their disgusting behavior.' 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 "'So do not let your daughters marry their sons, and do not let your sons marry their daughters. Never make alliances or friendship treaties with them. Then you will be strong, enjoy the good things the land produces, and pass it down to your children forever.' 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 "Everything that has come crashing down on us is the result of our wicked actions and our deep guilt. And honestly, God, you have punished us far less than we deserve. You even gave us this surviving group. 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 "After all that, should we go right back to breaking your commands? Should we marry people who do these horrible things? Wouldn't you be angry enough to wipe us out completely, leaving no one at all? 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 "Lord, God of Israel, you are completely right and. Here we stand before you -- a guilty remnant. With guilt like ours, none of us has any right to stand in your presence." 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.