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: yes, the hand of the princes and rulers has 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 astonished.
4 Then were assembled to 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 astonished 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 on my knees, and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,
6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up to the heavens.
7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass to 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 has been showed 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 slaves; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended mercy to 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 your commandments,
11 Which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, The land, to which you 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 to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that you 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 on us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such deliverance as this;
14 Should we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? would not you be angry with us till you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?
15 O LORD God of Israel, you are righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before you in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before you because of this.
1 When these things were done, the rulers came to me, saying, The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
2 For they have taken some of their daughters for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the rulers and officials has been foremost in this treachery.
3 So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished.
4 Then everyone who trembled at the Words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the treachery of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.
5 At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to Jehovah my God.
6 And I said: O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have increased over our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the Heavens.
7 Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to shame of faces, to this day.
8 And now for a little while grace has been shown from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9 For we were slaves; yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to set up the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,
11 which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness.
12 Now therefore, do not give your daughters for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; nor seek after their peace or prosperity forever, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.
13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God have held back from the bending down in punishment of our iniquities, and have given us such deliverance as this,
14 should we again break Your commandments, and join in marriage with the people of these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had finished us off, so that there would be no remnant or escapee?
15 O Jehovah the God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as refugees, as it is this day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this!