Meditate

9. Ezra's Prayer about Intermarriage

Denunciation of Mixed Marriages

 9

After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.²For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons. Thus the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and in this faithlessness the officials and leaders have led the way.”³When I heard this, I tore my garment and my mantle, and pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat appalled.⁴Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.

Ezra’s Prayer

⁵ At the evening sacrifice I got up from my fasting, with my garments and my mantle torn, and fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the Lord my God,⁶and said,

“O my God, I am too ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.⁷From the days of our ancestors to this day we have been deep in guilt, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as is now the case.⁸But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, who has left us a remnant, and given us a stake in his holy place, in order that he may brighten our eyes and grant us a little sustenance in our slavery.⁹For we are slaves; yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to give us new life to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judea and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,¹¹which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land unclean with the pollutions of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations. They have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness.¹²Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’¹³After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this,¹⁴shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you destroy us without remnant or survivor?¹⁵O Lord, God of Israel, you are just, but we have escaped as a remnant, as is now the case. Here we are before you in our guilt, though no one can face you because of this.”

10. Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

²⁶ For if we willfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,²⁷but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.²⁸Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”²⁹How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?³⁰For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

59. Psalm 59

Psalm 59

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam, when Saul ordered his house to be watched in order to kill him.

1

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;

protect me from those who rise up against me.

2

Deliver me from those who work evil;

from the bloodthirsty save me.

3

Even now they lie in wait for my life;

the mighty stir up strife against me.

For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

4

for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

Rouse yourself, come to my help and see!

5

You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Awake to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.Selah

6

Each evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

7

There they are, bellowing with their mouths,

with sharp words on their lips—

for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

8

But you laugh at them, O Lord;

you hold all the nations in derision.

9

O my strength, I will watch for you;

for you, O God, are my fortress.

10

My God in his steadfast love will meet me;

my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

11

Do not kill them, or my people may forget;

make them totter by your power, and bring them down,

O Lord, our shield.

12

For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,

let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

13

consume them in wrath;

consume them until they are no more.

Then it will be known to the ends of the earth

that God rules over Jacob.Selah

14

Each evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

15

They roam about for food,

and growl if they do not get their fill.

16

But I will sing of your might;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been a fortress for me

and a refuge in the day of my distress.

17

O my strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, are my fortress,

the God who shows me steadfast love.