Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
You commanded through your servants the prophets, saying, 'The land you are going to take and live in is a defiled land because of the corrupt practices of the people living there. Their disgusting sins have polluted the entire land from one end to the other.'
God had warned through His prophets that the Promised Land would be spiritually contaminated by the sinful practices of its inhabitants.
📚 Historical Context
In the book of Ezra, the Jewish exiles are returning to their homeland after decades in Babylonian captivity, seeking to rebuild their community and the temple in Jerusalem. This verse reflects Ezra's prayer of confession, where he quotes earlier prophetic warnings about the Promised Land being defiled by the idolatrous practices and moral abominations of the surrounding nations. These warnings, rooted in God's commands through prophets like Moses, urged the Israelites to avoid such influences to preserve their covenant relationship with God.
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