Ezra 9:5 (WEB)

Passage

At the evening offering I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to Yahweh my God;

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:3 When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled the hair out of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.

Ezra 9:4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel were assembled to me, because of their trespass of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening offering.

Ezra 9:5 At the evening offering I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to Yahweh my God;

Ezra 9:6 and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God; for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens.

Ezra 9:7 Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "evening", "offering", "arose", "humiliation", "garment", "robe", and "torn". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "evening" and "offering", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Then everyone who trembled at the words..." into verse 6's "and I said My God I am...", so "evening" and "offering" 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 "evening" and "offering" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.