Ezra 9:13
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;
The verse stands in a prayer made at the hour of the evening sacrifice, with the one praying on his knees and hands spread toward the Lord in earnest pleading, ashamed and blushing, confessing that iniquities have risen over the head and trespass has grown up to the heavens, and that since the days of their fathers they have been in great trespass. The evil deeds and great trespass were breaking God's commandments spoken through His servants the prophets by joining in affinity, mingling and intermarrying with peoples given to abominations and their practices, contrary to His command to remain separate. After all that came upon them for those deeds, Israel suffered for its guilt, with its people and its kings and its priests given into the hand of the kings of the lands to the sword and to captivity and to spoil and to confusion of face. That suffering was the Babylonish captivity brought by such apostasy.
Yet God punished them less than their iniquities deserved and chastened them far more lightly than their guilt called for. Their sufferings were indeed punishment for evil deeds and great trespass, but the punishment was less than their sins deserved. Though they were bondmen, He did not forsake them in bondage but for a little space showed grace and gave such deliverance as this. That deliverance was leaving a remnant to escape, giving a nail or place in His holy house and a foothold in their native land, lightening their eyes and giving a little reviving in bondage through mercy in the sight of the kings of Persia, to set up the house of God, to repair its desolations, and to give a wall or protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
After such goodness, to break His commandments again and join with the peoples of abominations would be grave ingratitude provoking Him to anger till He consumed them so that there should be no remnant nor escaping and no survivors left. The mercy already shown in sparing them and granting deliverance made such renewed disobedience and alliance with the surrounding peoples and their abominations especially serious. The Lord God of Israel is righteous, and the escaped people remain in trespass, guilty and unable to stand before Him on their own. Ezra and also Nehemiah humbled themselves before God, confessed both their own sins and those of the people as though they themselves were offenders, pleaded for pardon, and felt righteous indignation and grief over such ingratitude.