Ezra 9:5-7

New International Reader's Version

⁵ Then I got up. I had been very sad for quite a while. My inner robe and my coat were torn. I fell down on my knees. I spread my hands out to the Lord my God. ⁶ I prayed,

“I’m filled with shame and dishonor, my God. I can hardly look to you and pray. That’s because our sins are piled up above our heads. Our guilt reaches all the way to the heavens. ⁷ We are filled with it. It has been like that ever since the days of our people who lived long ago. Kings of other countries have killed many of us and our kings and priests with their swords. They’ve forced others to leave their own land. They’ve taken them away as prisoners. They’ve robbed others. They’ve made still others feel ashamed and dishonored. All these things have happened to us because we’ve committed so many sins. And that’s how things still are to this day.