Ezra’s Prayer of Confession
At the evening offering Ezra kneels before God and begins in shame, speaking of guilt that has risen beyond measure. He places the present sin inside Israel’s long story of iniquity, exile, and humiliation.
A5t the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the LORD my God, 6and said: 7“O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and subjected to the sword and to captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.
Ezra pauses over God’s mercy: though the people are still in bondage, God has preserved a remnant, revived them, and given favor under Persia to rebuild the house of God. The prayer remembers restoration as sheer grace, not earned recovery.
8But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve for us a remnant and to give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our bondage, our God has given us new life and light to our eyes. 9Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
Ezra says the people have forsaken commandments God gave through the prophets concerning the polluted land and its peoples. He repeats the prohibition against intermarriage as the standard they have knowingly broken.
10And now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commandments 11that You gave through Your servants the prophets, saying: ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the impurity of its peoples and the abominations with which they have filled it from end to end. 12Now, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, leaving it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’
Ezra admits that God has punished them less than their sins deserve and still left a remnant. Faced with renewed disobedience, he can only ask whether such mercy will now be exhausted, and he ends before God’s righteousness with no claim to stand.
13After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this), 14shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor? 15O LORD, God of Israel, You are righteous! For we remain this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand before You.”