Ezra 9:10 (WEB)

Passage

“Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:8 Now for a little moment grace has been shown from Yahweh 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 revived us a little in our bondage.

Ezra 9:9 For we are bondservants; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

Ezra 9:10 “Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,

Ezra 9:11 which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land, to which you go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness.

Ezra 9:12 Now therefore don’t give your daughters to their sons. Don’t take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever; that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children 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 bondservants yet our God..." into verse 11's "which you have commanded by your servants...", 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.