Bible Strands
Ezra 9:15
O LORD, God of Israel, You are righteous! For we remain this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand before You.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezra speaks this prayer to God immediately after the returned exiles confessed to intermarrying with surrounding nations. He addresses the Lord as the judge who has spared a surviving remnant despite their covenant violations.
The words — The Hebrew צַדִּיק (tza.Dik, "righteous") and פְלֵיטָה (fe.lei.Tah, "escaped remnant") anchor the confession. Ezra declares Yahweh righteous for preserving a surviving remnant despite their unfaithfulness.
The thread — The theme of standing before God in guilt appears in Psalms 130:3, which asks who can stand if God keeps track of iniquities. The New Testament addresses the consequence of remaining in sin in John 8:24 and John 8:21, noting that those who do not believe will die in their sins.
Why it lands — The verse demands honest acknowledgment of corporate guilt and recognition that survival is an act of divine grace rather than human merit. It calls readers to approach God with humility, aware that standing before Him requires His righteousness, not their own.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
Cross-references
- Psalms 130:3 If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?
- John 8:24 That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
- John 8:21 Again He said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Nehemiah 9:33 You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
- Zechariah 3:3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel.
- Romans 10:3 Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Job 9:2 “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?
- Psalms 143:2 Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.
- Isaiah 64:6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.