Ezra 9:1 (DBY)

Passage

Now when these things were completed, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, [even] of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites;

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:1 Now when these things were completed, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, [even] of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites;

Ezra 9:2 for they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and have mingled the holy seed with the peoples of the lands; and the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this unfaithfulness.

Ezra 9:3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my mantle and my garment, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down overwhelmed.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "things", "completed", "princes", "came", "saying", "people", "israel", and "priests". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "things" and "completed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The next verse adds "for they have taken of their daughters...", so "things" and "completed" should be read forward into that movement. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

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