Ezra 9:10
What does Ezra 9:10 mean?
A plain-English look at Ezra 9:10 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Ezra 9:10 means
Confronted with such grace, Ezra is at a loss: “What shall we say after this?” He admits that they have forsaken God’s commandments. His words express moral bewilderment—how could they act this way after mercy so clearly given? The problem is not ignorance but willful neglect. Ezra’s humility is evident; he does not argue, minimize, or blame outsiders. He simply states the core truth: God commanded, we disobeyed. This confession invites God to judge truthfully and, if He wills, to be merciful. It clears away self-justification so that God’s word, not human reasoning, defines right and wrong.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
KJV
King James Version · 1611And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And now, O our God, what are we to say after this? for we have not kept your laws,
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862`And now, what do we say, O our God, after this? for we have forsaken Thy commands,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And now, what shall we say, ourGod, after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
Context
Having rehearsed God’s mercies (verses 8–9), verse 10 introduces the crux of the prayer’s appeal: Israel’s disobedience in the face of grace. This leads directly to the content of the commandments they broke (verses 11–12), specifically the prohibition against intermarriage with idolatrous peoples. The flow tightens: from general acknowledgment of disobedience to the precise word they ignored, which underscores the justice of God’s displeasure and the urgency of repentance.
v.9For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended lovingkindness unto 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 ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
v.10This passage
v.11which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness:
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Lamentations 3:22
It is of Jehovah’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
- Joshua 7:8
Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies!
- Genesis 44:16
And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s bondmen, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.
- Daniel 9:4
And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments,
- Romans 3:19
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God: