Ezra 9:13 (LSB)

Passage

After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this,

Nearby Context

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.’

Ezra 9:13 After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this,

Ezra 9:14 shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?

Ezra 9:15 O Yahweh, the God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "iniquities", "after", "come", "upon", "evil", "deeds", "great", and "guilt". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "iniquities" and "after", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "So now do not give your daughters..." into verse 14's "shall we again break Your commandments and...", so "iniquities" 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 "iniquities" and "after" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.