9:1 And when these things were finished, the
princes drew near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and
the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands in
their abominations, [even] the Canaanite, the Ethite, the Pherezite, the
Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, and the Moserite and the Amorite.
9:2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and their sons;
and the holy seed has passed among the nations of the lands, and the hand of
the rulers [has been] first in this transgression.
9:3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garments, and trembled, and
plucked [some] of the hairs of my head and of my beard, and sat down
mourning.
9:4 Then there assembled to me all that followed the word of the Elohim of
Israel, on account of the transgression of the captivity; and I remained
mourning until the evening sacrifice.
9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my humiliation; and when I
had rent my garments, then I trembled, and I bow myself on my knees, and
spread out my hands to Yehovah Elohim,
9:6 and I said, O Lord, I am ashamed and confounded, O my Elohim, to lift up my
face to thee: for our transgressions have abounded over our head, and our
trespasses have increased even to heaven.
9:7 From the days of our fathers we have been in a great trespass until this
day: and because of our iniquities we, and our kings, and our children, have
been delivered into the hand of the kings of the Gentiles by the sword, and
by captivity, and by spoil, and with shame of our face, as at this day.
9:8 And now our Elohim has dealt mercifully with us, so as to leave us to
escape, and to give us an establishment in the place of his sanctuary, to
enlighten our eyes, and to give a little quickening in our servitude.
9:9 For we are slaves, yet in our servitude Yehovah our Elohim has not
deserted us; and he has extended favour to us in the sight of the kings of
the Persians, to give us a quickening, that they should raise up the house
of our Elohim, and restore the desolate places of it, and to give us a fence in
Judah and Jerusalem.
9:10 What shall we say, our Elohim, after this? for we have forsaken thy
commandments,
9:11 which thou hast given us by the hand of thy servants the prophets,
saying, The land, into which ye go to inherit it, is a land subject to
disturbance by the removal of the people of the nations for their
abominations, wherewith they have filled it from one end to the other by
their uncleanness.
9:12 And now give not your daughters to their sons, and take not of their
daughters for your sons, neither shall ye seek their peace or their good for
ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and transmit it
as an inheritance to your children for ever.
9:13 And after all that is come upon us because of our evil deeds, and our
great trespass, [it is clear] that there is none such as our Elohim, for thou
has lightly visited our iniquities, and given us deliverance;
9:14 whereas we have repeatedly broken thy commandments, and intermarried
with the people of the lands: be not very angry with us to [our] utter
destruction, so that there should be no remnant or escaping one.
9:15 O Lord Elohim of Israel, thou [art] righteous; for we remain [yet]
escaped, as at this day: behold, we [are] before thee in our trespasses: for
we cannot stand before thee on this account. |
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.
9:2 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.
9:3 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.
9:4 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the
Elohim of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried
away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.
9:5 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 Yehovah my Elohim,
9:6 And said, O my Elohim, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee,
my Elohim: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is
grown up unto the heavens.
9:7 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.
9:8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from Yehovah our Elohim,
to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place,
that our Elohim may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our
bondage.
9:9 For we were bondmen; yet our Elohim 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 Elohim, and to repair the desolations
thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
9:10 And now, O our Elohim, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken
thy commandments,
9:11 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.
9:12 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.
9:13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our
great trespass, seeing that thou our Elohim hast punished us less than our
iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;
9:14 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?
9:15 O Yehovah Elohim 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. |