Now when these things had been completed, the princes approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not ^aseparated themselves from the peoples of the lands, ^baccording to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites. 2 For ^athey have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that ^bthe holy ¹race has ^cintermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.” 3 When I heard about this matter, I ^atore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and ^bsat down appalled. 4 Then ^aeveryone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until ^bthe evening offering.

5 But at the evening offering I arose from my ¹humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and ^astretched out my ²hands to the LORD my God; 6 and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have ¹risen above our heads and our ^aguilt has grown even to the heavens. 7 ^aSince the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and to plunder and to ^1bopen shame, as it is this day. 8 But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, ^ato leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a ^bpeg in His holy place, that our God may ^cenlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 ^aFor we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but ^bhas extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 “Now, 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 uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end and ^awith their impurity. 12 So now do not ^agive your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and ^bnever seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and ^cleave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’ 13 After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and ^aour great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us ^ban escaped remnant as this, 14 ^ashall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples ¹who commit these abominations? ^bWould You not be angry with us ²to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? 15 O LORD God of Israel, ^aYou are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in ^bour guilt, for ^cno one can stand before You because of this.”

When these things were completed, the officials came to me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not ^aseparated themselves from the peoples of the lands, but ^bhave committed the repulsive acts of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. 2 For ^athey have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that ^bthe holy ¹race has ^2cintermingled with the peoples of the lands. Indeed, the officials and chief men have been foremost in this unfaithful act and direct violation of God’s will.” Deut 7:3, 4 3 When I heard this, I ^atore my clothing and my robe in grief, I pulled out some of the hair from my head and my beard, and ^bsat down appalled at the shame of it. 4 Then ^aeveryone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me as I sat appalled until ^bthe evening offering.

5 At the evening offering I arose from my time of humiliation and penitence and having torn my clothing and my robe, I fell on my knees and ^astretched out my hands to the LORD my God, 6 and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongdoings have risen higher than our heads and our ^aguilt has grown to the heavens. 7 ^aSince the days of our fathers to this day we have been exceedingly guilty; and on account of our wrongdoings we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to ^bcomplete shame, as it is today. 8 But now for a brief moment grace has been shown to us from the LORD our God, who ^ahas left us a surviving remnant and has given us a ^bpeg (secure hold) in His holy place, that our God may ^cenlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 ^aFor we are slaves; yet our God has not abandoned us in our bondage, but ^bhas extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to revive us to rebuild the house of our God, to repair the site of its ruins and to give us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 “Now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned (turned away from) Your commandments, 11 which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is a defiled land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their repulsive acts which have filled it from one end to the other ^aalong with their impurity. 12 So now do not ^agive your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons; and ^bnever seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and ^cleave it as an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for ^aour great guilt, since You our God have punished us less than our wrongdoings deserve, and have given us ^bsurvivors like these, 14 ^ashall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who practice these repulsive acts? ^bWould You not be angry with us to the point of total destruction, so that there would be no remnant nor survivor? Deut 7:2-4 15 O LORD God of Israel, ^aYou are uncompromisingly just (righteous) , for we have been left as survivors, as it is this day. Behold, we are before You in ^bour guilt, for ^cno one can stand before You because of this.”