Ezra 9 - New Century Version (NCV)

Ezra’s Prayer

9 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “Ezra, the Israelites, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the people around us. Those neighbors do evil things, as the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites did. 2 The Israelite men and their sons have married these women. They have mixed the people who belong to God with the people around them. The leaders and officers of Israel have led the rest of the Israelites to do this unfaithful thing.”

3 When I heard this, I angrily tore my robe and coat, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down in shock. 4 Everyone who trembled in fear at the word of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the captives who had returned. I sat there in shock until the evening sacrifice.

5 At the evening sacrifice I got up from where I had shown my shame. My robe and coat were torn, and I fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God. 6 I prayed,

“My God, I am too ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are so many. They are higher than our heads. Our guilt even reaches up to the sky. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we, our kings, and our priests have been punished by the sword and captivity. Foreign kings have taken away our things and shamed us, even as it is today.

8 “But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been kind to us. He has let some of us come back from captivity and has let us live in safety in his holy place. And so our God gives us hope and a little relief from our slavery. 9 Even though we are slaves, our God has not left us. He caused the kings of Persia to be kind to us and has given us new life. We can rebuild the Temple and repair its ruins. And he has given us a wall to protect us in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 “But now, our God, what can we say after you have done all this? We have disobeyed your commands 11 that you gave through your servants the prophets. You said, ‘The land you are entering to own is ruined; the people living there have spoiled it by the evil they do. Their evil filled the land with uncleanness from one end to the other. 12 So do not let your daughters marry their sons, and do not let their daughters marry your sons. Do not wish for their peace or success. Then you will be strong and eat the good things of the land. Then you can leave this land to your descendants forever.’

13 “What has happened to us is our own fault. We have done evil things, and our guilt is great. But you, our God, have punished us less than we deserve; you have left a few of us alive. 14 We should not again break your commands by allowing marriages with these wicked people. If we did, you would get angry enough to destroy us, and none of us would be left alive. 15 Lord, God of Israel, by your goodness a few of us are left alive today. We admit that we are guilty and none of us should be allowed to stand before you.”

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Ezra 9 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

9 And at the completion of these things, drawn nigh unto me have the heads, saying, `The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not been separated from the peoples of the lands, as to their abominations, even the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, th...
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Ezra 9 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

9 And after that these things were fulfilled, the princes nighed to me, that is, to Ezra, and said, The people of Israel, and the priests, and deacons, be not separated from the peoples of (the) lands, and from [the] abominations of them, that is, of Canaanites, of Hittites, and of Perizzites, and o...
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Ezra 9 - World English Bible (WEB)

9 Now when these things were done, the princes came near to me, saying, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, following their abominations, even those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammon...
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Ezra 9 - The Voice (VOICE)

If Ezra expects to retain the support of the Persian king, he has to obey Artaxerxes’ four commands. Within five months, Ezra completes the first two demands—he leads the Jews to Jerusalem, and he delivers all the offerings to the temple. His obedience to Artaxerxes is matched by the governors’ obed...
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Ezra 9 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Interceding for Unfaithful Remnant9 Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me to say: “The people of Israel, the kohanim and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands who practice detestable things just like the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Pe...
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Ezra 9 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Denunciation of Mixed Marriages9 [a]After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “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 Per′izzites, t...
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Ezra 9 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Denunciation of Mixed Marriages9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “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 Per′izzites, the ...
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Ezra 9 - Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

9 Now when these things were completed, the sarim came to me, saying, HaAm Yisroel, and the Kohanim, and the Levi’im, have not separated themselves from the Am HaAretz, doing according to their abominations, even of the Kena’ani, the Chitti, the Perizzi, the Yevusi, the Ammoni, the Moavi, the Egypti...
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Ezra 9 - New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Denunciation of Mixed Marriages9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel, 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 Jeb...
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Ezra 9 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Denunciation of Mixed Marriages9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, ‘The people of Israel, 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 Jeb...
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Ezra 9 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Denunciation of Mixed Marriages9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel, 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 Jeb...
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Ezra 9 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Ezra’s Prayer concerning Intermarriage9 When these things had been done, the Jewish leaders came to me and said, “Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable pra...
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Ezra 9 - New Life Version (NLV)

The Jews Return to Jerusalem9 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the religious leaders and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands. They have followed the sinful ways of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzit...
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Ezra 9 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Intermarriage with Pagans9 When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not (A)separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, (B)with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebus...
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Ezra 9 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Ezra’s prayer about intermarriage9 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, ‘The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighbouring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites,...
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Ezra 9 - New International Version (NIV)

Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage9 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate(A) from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittite...
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Ezra 9 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Ezra Prays for the People9 After all these things had been done, the leaders came to me. They said, “The people of Israel have committed sins. Even the priests and Levites have sinned. They haven’t kept themselves separate from the nations around them. The Lord hates the practices of those nations. ...
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