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?
Parallel translations
- 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?
- BSB 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?
- 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 9:8Also in Horeb you provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you.
- Ezra 9:2For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy offspring have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands. Yes, the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this trespass.”
- Deut 9:14Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”
- Judg 2:2You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this?
- Num 16:21“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”
- Num 16:45“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces.
- Exod 32:10Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
- John 5:14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
- Rom 6:1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
- 2 Pet 2:20–21For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
- Ezra 9:8Now for a little moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and revived us a little in our bondage.
- Neh 13:23–27In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;
- Isa 1:9Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have been like Gomorrah.
- Ezek 6:8“‘“Yet I will leave a remnant, in that you will have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries.
- Jer 46:28Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh; “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
- Deut 32:26–27I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;
- Exod 23:32You shall make no covenant with them, nor 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
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