At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and (A)spread out my hands to the Lord my God. And I said: “O my God, I am too (B)ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for (C)our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has (D)grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day (E)we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities (F)we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the (G)sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to (H)humiliation,[a] as it is this day.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 9:7 Lit. shame of faces

Then, at the evening sacrifice,(A) I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands(B) spread out to the Lord my God and prayed:

“I am too ashamed(C) and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.(D) From the days of our ancestors(E) until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword(F) and captivity,(G) to pillage and humiliation(H) at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

Read full chapter