For we are bondmen, and in our bondage our God hath not forsaken us, but hath extended mercy upon us before the king of the Persians, to give us life, and to set up the house of our God, and to rebuild the desolations thereof, and to give us a fence in Juda and Jerusalem.
Ezra 9:7 From the days of our fathers: and we ourselves also have sinned grievously unto this day, and for our iniquities we and our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands, and to the sword, and to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is at this day.
Ezra 9:8 And now as a little, and for a moment has our prayer been made before the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant, and give us a pin in his holy place, and that our God would enlighten our eyes, and would give us a little life in our bondage.
Ezra 9:9 For we are bondmen, and in our bondage our God hath not forsaken us, but hath extended mercy upon us before the king of the Persians, to give us life, and to set up the house of our God, and to rebuild the desolations thereof, and to give us a fence in Juda and 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 the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying: The land which you go to possess, is an unclean land, according to the uncleanness of the people, and of other lands, with their abominations, who have filled it from mouth to mouth with their filth.
The verse centers on "mercy", "bondmen", "bondage", "hath", "forsaken", "extended", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "mercy" and "bondmen", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And now as a little and for..." into verse 10's "And now O our God what shall...", so "mercy" and "bondmen" 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 "mercy" and "bondmen" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.