shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor?
Parallel translations
- WEB shall we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? Wouldn’t you be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there would be no remnant, nor any to escape?
- KJV Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?
- NKJV should we again break Your commandments, and join in marriage with the people committing these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had consumed us, so that there would be no remnant or survivor?
- NASB shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there would be no remnant nor any who would escape?
- NLT But even so, we are again breaking your commands and intermarrying with people who do these detestable things. Won’t your anger be enough to destroy us, so that even this little remnant no longer survives?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ezra asked whether, after such grace, they would dare break God's commands again and provoke His consuming anger. He feared renewed sin would destroy the remnant entirely.
Overview
Ezra reasoned that returning to the very sin that caused the exile would justly bring God's wrath until no survivors remained. His question exposes the folly and danger of presuming on grace by continuing in sin. This warning echoes the New Testament call not to use God's mercy as a license to sin but to walk in obedient gratitude (Romans 6:1-2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Deut 9:8At Horeb you provoked the LORD, and He was angry enough to destroy you.
- Ezra 9:2Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”
- Deut 9:14Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
- Judg 2:2and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
- Num 16:21“Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”
- Num 16:45“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.
- Exod 32:10Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- John 5:14Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
- Rom 6:1What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?
- 2 Pet 2:20–21If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.
- Ezra 9:8But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve for us a remnant and to give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our bondage, our God has given us new life and light to our eyes.
- Neh 13:23–27In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
- Isa 1:9Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Ezek 6:8Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands.
- Jer 46:28And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Deut 32:26–27I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
- Exod 23:32You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
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Christ at the center
The return from exile and the rebuilt altar keep alive the hope of a greater restoration — the true return from our deeper exile of sin accomplished by Christ.
How Ezra 9:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.