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and to uncover unto us a light in the house of the Lord our God, and to give us food in the time of our servitude.
80
Yea, when we were in bondage we were not forsaken by our Lord, but He made us gracious before the kings of Persia, so that they gave us food,
81
yea, and honored the temple of our Lord and raised up the desolate Zion, that they have given us a sure abiding in Jewry and Jerusalem.
82
"And now, O Lord, what shall we say, having these things? For we have transgressed Thy commandments, which Thou gavest by the hand of Thy servants the prophets, saying,
83
`The land which ye enter into to possess as a heritage is a land polluted with the pollutions of the strangers of the land, and they have filled it with their uncleanness.
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Therefore now shall ye not join your daughters unto their sons, neither shall ye take their daughters unto your sons.
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Moreover ye shall never seek to have peace with them, that ye may be strong and eat the good things of the land, and that ye may leave the inheritance of the land unto your children for evermore.'
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And all that has befallen is done unto us for our wicked works and great sins. For Thou, O Lord, didst make our sins light,
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and didst give unto us such a root; but we have turned back again to transgress Thy law, and to mingle ourselves with the uncleanness of the nations of the land.
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Mightest not Thou be angry with us to destroy us till Thou hadst left us neither root, seed, nor name?
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O Lord of Israel, Thou art true; for we are left a root this day.