^9 (A)For we are slaves; yet in our slavery our God has not forsaken us, but ^(B)has extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “So now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, ¹¹ which You have commanded by the hand of Your slaves the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an impure land with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and ^(C)with their uncleanness.