^7 (A)From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great ^(B)guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, ^(C)and to utter shame, as it is today.

¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for ^(A)our great guilt, seeing that you, our ^(B)God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a ^(C)remnant as this,

¹⁵ O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a ^(A)remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our ^(B)guilt, ^(C)for none can stand before you because of this.”

¹⁰ And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.

¹⁹ They ^(A)pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was ^(B)a ram of the flock for their guilt.^[a]

¹⁸ And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served ^(A)the Asherim and the idols. And ^(B)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.