For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy 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 desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
Ezra 9:7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
Ezra 9:8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD 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 were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy 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 desolations 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 with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
The verse centers on "mercy", "bondmen", "hath", "forsaken", "bondage", "extended", and "sight". 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 for a little space grace..." 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.