Ezra 9:10 (ASV)

Passage

And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:8 And now for a little moment grace hath been showed from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

Ezra 9:9 For 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.

Ezra 9:10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,

Ezra 9:11 which 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:

Ezra 9:12 now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "after", "forsaken", and "commandments". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "after", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "For we are bondmen yet our God..." into verse 11's "which thou hast commanded by thy servants...", so "shall" and "after" belong inside that flow. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "after" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.