Ezra 9:10 (LSB)

Passage

“So now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:8 But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our slavery.

Ezra 9:9 For we are slaves; yet in our slavery our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

Ezra 9:10 “So now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,

Ezra 9:11 which You have commanded by the hand of Your slaves the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an impure land with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and with their uncleanness.

Ezra 9:12 So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as a possession to your sons forever.’

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 slaves yet in our..." into verse 11's "which You have commanded by the hand...", 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.