Ezra 9:13 (YLT)

Passage

`And after all that hath come upon us for our evil works, and for our great guilt (for Thou, O our God, hast kept back of the rod from our iniquities, and hast given to us an escape like this),

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:11 that Thou hast commanded by the hands of thy servants the prophets, saying, The land into which ye are going to possess it, <FI>is<Fi> a land of impurity, by the impurity of the people of the lands, by their abominations with which they have filled it--from mouth unto mouth--by their uncleanness;

Ezra 9:12 and now, your daughters ye do not give to their sons, and their daughters ye do not take to your sons, and ye do not seek their peace, and their good--unto the age, so that ye are strong, and have eaten the good of the land, and given possession to your sons unto the age.

Ezra 9:13 `And after all that hath come upon us for our evil works, and for our great guilt (for Thou, O our God, hast kept back of the rod from our iniquities, and hast given to us an escape like this),

Ezra 9:14 do we turn back to break Thy commands, and to join ourselves in marriage with the people of these abominations? art not Thou angry against us--even to consumption--till there is no remnant and escaped part?

Ezra 9:15 `O Jehovah, God of Israel, righteous <FI>art<Fi> Thou, for we have been left an escape, as <FI>it is<Fi> this day; lo, we <FI>are<Fi> before Thee in our guilt, for there is none to stand before Thee concerning this.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "iniquities", "after", "hath", "come", "upon", "evil", "works", and "great". 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 "and now your daughters ye do not..." into verse 14's "do we turn back to break Thy...", 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.