1Now when these things were finished, the officials approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with their abominations—from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
2For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, and the holy seed has mingled itself with the peoples of the lands; and the hand of the officials and the deputies has been foremost in this treachery.”
3And when I heard this word, I tore my garment and my robe, and I pulled out some of the hair of my head and my beard, and I sat appalled.
4Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered to me, on account of the treachery of the exiles, while I sat appalled until the evening offering.
5And at the evening offering I rose from my humiliation, and with my garment and my robe torn, I knelt down on my knees and spread out my palms to Yahweh my God.
6And I said: “My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our head, and our guilt has grown great, up to the heavens.
7From the days of our fathers we have been in great guilt to this day, and because of our iniquities we—we, our kings, and our priests—have been handed over into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to shame of face, as it is this day.
8But now, for a brief moment, favor has come from Yahweh our God, to leave us a remnant that escaped and to give us a tent peg in his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our slavery.
9For we are slaves, yet in our slavery our God has not forsaken us, but has extended to us loyal love before the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God and to restore its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
10And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,
11which you commanded by the hand of your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that 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 with their impurity.
12So now, do not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons; and do not seek their peace or their prosperity forever, so that you may grow strong and eat the good of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’
13And after all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt—since you, our God, have withheld punishment below what our iniquity deserved, and have given us a remnant such as this—
14shall we again break your commandments and intermarry with the peoples of these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you had made an end of us, so that there would be no remnant or survivor?
15Yahweh, God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant that has escaped, as it is this day. Here we are before you in our guilt, for no one can stand before you because of this.”
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