Ezra 9:4
Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice. Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.
God had again given His people a foothold in their native land, and Ezra's stunned sitting until the evening sacrifice exposed Israel's ingratitude for that restoration. The transgression that provoked it was intermarriage with the surrounding heathen peoples by the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and chiefly the princes and rulers, in breaking of laws given as a safeguard against apostasy. Ezra knew from study of the causes leading to the Babylonish captivity that Israel's apostasy was largely traceable to mingling with heathen nations, and that obedience to God's command to keep separate from the nations around them would have spared them many sad and humiliating experiences.
Every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, meaning those who revered His words, assembled unto Ezra because of the transgression of those that had been carried away. He sat astonied or stunned, that is astonished, until the evening sacrifice in righteous indignation and grief and in inexpressibly sad and intense agony of soul over sins so grievous. His grief was sharpened because the sins were committed by men of prominence who had great light and privileges.
At the time of the evening sacrifice he rose to fall on his knees and unburden his soul in supplication to Heaven. The gathering of those who revered God's words around him while he sat stunned is an example of grief over disregarding God's law, showing that recognizing such failure should lead to mourning and a resolve to obey.