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1 Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. 3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied. 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. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God. 6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. 7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. 8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. 10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, 11 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. 12 Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. 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; 14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? 15 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.
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[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 9:1
After these things were completed, etc. The guilt of this transgression is also clearly described and reproved by prophetic authority in the prophet Malachi; because evidently those who returned from Babylonian captivity, both princes and priests and Levites, as well as the rest of the people, took wives of Israelite descent, who, suffering from the hardship and infirmity of long life, and the fragility of their sex, had been worn out and contracted weakness and deformity of body, and they married foreign women who were either flourishing in age, or more beautiful in body, or daughters of the powerful and rich. This should be understood not about those who were then with Ezra, but about those who had already ascended from captivity with Zerubbabel and Jeshua; for those who had come with Ezra could hardly have so quickly despised the doctrine of such a great leader and prelate, as it is understood, that after scarcely five months in their homeland, they had left their own wives and taken foreign wives; of whom these princes, who brought this crime to Ezra to be punished, were more likely to have been. Nor is it surprising that the people of Israel, along with priests and Levites, are said to have committed this crime, since that transmigration was more from Judah and Benjamin than from the ten tribes which were called Israel. For it should be known that when Israel, that is, the ten tribes, was taken into captivity, the traditional name was also indiscriminately applied to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, calling them Israel. Therefore, the people of Israel in this place is to be understood not in the distinction of Judah and the ten tribes of Benjamin, but in the general distinction of the peoples of the lands, understanding the people of God, who polluted the dignity of their heavenly name with the society of earthly ones. For also the same prophet Malachi, whom the Hebrews assert to be Ezra himself, recalls such transgression in his book of prophecy: "Judah has been unfaithful, an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, because Judah has desecrated the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and married the daughter of a foreign god. May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob anyone who does this—an advocate or master and student—even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty" (Malachi II). Where, referring to Judah, he clearly indicates that the people of the first transmigration were polluted by this crime. And when he adds, "May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob anyone who does this—an advocate or master and student," he taught that both the leaders and the people, polluted by this transgression, and if they do not correct it, should be eradicated from the fellowship of saints. And when he added, "Even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty," he warns that they offer sacrifices to the Lord in vain, who do not fear to submit themselves to the devil by sinning. Among these, the admirable faith and excellent purpose of the people freed from captivity, who called other nations the peoples of the lands in distinction to themselves, should be noted, so that they clearly implied that they themselves, although born from the earth, believed they had their conversation not on earth, but in heaven, since they believed in the God of heaven above all other nations and hoped to obtain blessings from Him. From this, they rightly grieved that their sanctification was contaminated by people of the nations; and what is more serious, they confessed that their leaders, from whom they should have been corrected, were the first to err. It should be carefully noted, and taken as an example for conduct, that what the leaders sinned and made the people committed to them sin as well, other leaders who lived more sanctly strive to correct. But because they cannot do it by themselves, they refer the cause to the pontiff, that is, their archbishop, by whose authority such a grave, multifaceted, and long-lasting sin would be expiated. No one doubts that foreign wives figuratively represent heresies and superstitious sects of philosophers. When these are incautiously admitted into the Church, they not only contaminate the holy seed of Catholic truth and pure action with their errors, but also all the sins with which the Gentiles are accustomed to be polluted, while Christians are not ashamed to imitate them, become like foreign wives, degenerating from the holy seed of the word of God, by which they were born, as the apostle James says: "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth" (James I); and as if they produce profane offspring from the daughters of foreigners, while following the attractions of those who go astray, they bring forth perverse acts into the knowledge of everyone.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Ezra 9:1
Have not separated themselves: This shows how sinful it is to intermarry with those that the Church forbids us, on account of the danger of perversion and falling off from the true faith.
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 9:3
And when I had heard this word, I tore my garment, etc. Ezra reveals the deepest sorrow of his heart, he tore his clothing, plucked the hairs of his head and beard; he sits in mourning, so that by such dishonoring of his body and clothing, along with the sorrow of his face, he might more quickly rouse all hearts to repentance either for their own or their brothers' sins, because clothing is often used to signify our deeds, which either bring us to glory if clean, or to destruction if soiled, and do not commend themselves with the splendid love of the bridegroom. By the hairs of the head are meant thoughts, which arise from the hidden root of the heart, as if from the inner chambers of the brain. These, if upright, should be preserved: but if reproved, ought to be cut off. Hence, about Samuel, who was to be holy, his mother says: "And a razor shall not come upon his head" (cf. 1 Sam. 1:11). And to the apostles, the Lord says: "And not a hair of your head shall perish," because surely all the thoughts of the saints are worthy of eternal remembrance before the Lord. But truly, the sinner, that he may be cleansed from his iniquities, must cast away from himself reproveable thoughts, that is, the sources and incentives of evil deeds. Hence, the leper in Leviticus, when he has received healing, among other ceremonies of purification, is also commanded to shave off all the hair of his body, so that being thus cleansed, he might be worthy to enter the camp (cf. Lev. 14). Because then we are perfectly cleansed from the foulness of vices when we strive to expel not only harmful actions but also thoughts from ourselves. The beard too, which is a sign of male sex and age, is customarily taken to signify virtue. The high priest tore his cloak and tunic, to signify that the people he ruled had less perfect deeds, and whose deficiency needed to be mended through repentance and renewed in better behavior. He plucked the hairs of his head, so that he might signify to the same people that wicked thoughts must be uprooted from their hearts, and room given for useful ones to be born anew. He also plucked the hairs of his beard, so that even in the virtues they seemed to possess, they might be humbled, and reminded that these small or non-existent things were mixed with vices and not esteemed in the examination of the inner judge. He sat in mourning, to teach that through the lamentations of repentance, forgiveness for such a great offense ought to be sought. Nor is it to be wondered at if the actions of such a good leader soon bore great virtue among the subjects. Consider what follows:

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 9:4
And all those who feared the Lord gathered to me, etc. O, what a great change of things! It was previously said that the treachery of princes and magistrates led many to luxury, and now with a good prince turned to lamentation, and indicating through his grief and tears what should be done by sinners, it is said that all those who feared the word of God, which threatens to punish transgressors, gathered to him. O, how much pious examples help good teachers! Ezras spoke nothing at all, but, having only heard of the crime, it is written that he was turned to tears and weeping, and drew the crowd of the faithful to him not by shouting, but by mourning. It is added:

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 9:5
And in the evening sacrifice I rose from my affliction, etc. Ezra had prepared himself through the contrition of his heart and the affliction of his body, so that he might be made worthy to hear divine compassion, and thus he broke forth into the words of prayer. He bent his knees, spread his hands, and poured out prayers to the Lord at the time of the evening sacrifice; not doubting that this sacrifice would be more pleasing to God—because it was offered in a spirit of humility and a contrite soul—than if it had been offered with the flesh and blood of sheep. Symbolically, by bending his knees with his garment rent, spreading his hands to God, and pouring out prayers and tears, he turned the minds of many to repentance, as it is written in what follows, showing the Lord Savior, who deigned to pray for our sins both before His passion and at the very time of His passion; and who, with His hands extended on the cross, willed the garment of His flesh to be torn and mortified with wounds for our restoration, so that He, as the Apostle says, who died for our sins, might rise for our justification (Rom. 4). This was suitably done at the time of the evening sacrifice, either because the Lord, at the end of the world, offered the sacrifice of His flesh and blood to the Father and commanded us to offer it in bread and wine; or because, with the completion of the legal sacrifice, He freed us by His passion and, separating us from the peoples of the earth, made us heavenly, and granted that we might cling to Him with pure heart and body. The prayer itself, by which he, though just, associated himself with the sinful people, saying:

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 9:6
My God, I am confounded and ashamed, etc. It befits the humility of our Redeemer, who appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh to take away the sins of the world. Hence, even in the Psalms, which according to the testimony of the Gospel, are written about Him, He clearly calls the sins He took upon Himself as ours, saying: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Psalm 21:1). And adding: Far from my salvation are the words of my sins (Psalm 21:2). And again: O God, you know my foolishness, and my sins are not hidden from you (Psalm 69:5); not because He could have sins or foolishness in Himself, who, as the Apostle says, was made wisdom and justice and sanctification and redemption for us from God; but because, taking on the cause of those He came to save, He deigned to transfer upon Himself even those things that truly pertained to their frailty.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Ezra 9:8
A pin: or nail, here signifies a small settlement or holding; which Esdras begs for, to preserve even a part of the people, who, by their great iniquity had incurred the anger of God.