1 Esdras 8:68–9:17

Now when these things were done, the principal men came unto me, and said, The nation of Israel, and the princes, and the priests and the Levites, have not put away from them the strange people of the land, nor the uncleannesses of the Gentiles, to wit, of the Canaanites, Hittites, Pherezites, Jebusites, and the Moabites, Egyptians, and Edomites. For both they and their sons have married with their daughters, and the holy seed is mixed with the strange people of the land; and from the beginning of this matter the rulers and the nobles have been partakers of this iniquity. And as soon as I had heard these things, I rent my clothes, and my holy garment, and plucked the hair from off my head and beard, and sat me down sad and full of heaviness. So all they that were moved at the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, assembled unto me, whilst I mourned for the iniquity: but I sat still full of heaviness until the evening sacrifice. Then rising up from the fast with my clothes and my holy garment rent, and bowing my knees, and stretching forth my hands unto the Lord,

I said, O Lord, I am ashamed and confounded before thy face; for our sins are multiplied above our heads, and our errors have reached up unto heaven, ever since the time of our fathers; and we are in great sin, even unto this day. And for our sins and our fathers’ we with our brethren and our kings and our priests were given up unto the kings of the earth, to the sword, and to captivity, and for a prey with shame, unto this day. And now in some measure hath mercy been shewed unto us from thee, O Lord, that there should be left us a root and a name in the place of thy sanctuary; and to discover unto us a light in the house of the Lord our God, and to give us food in the time of our servitude. Yea, when we were in bondage, we were not forsaken of our Lord; but he made us gracious before the kings of Persia, so that they gave us food, and glorified the temple of our Lord, and raised up the desolate Sion, to give us a sure abiding in Jewry and Jerusalem. 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, That the land, which ye enter into to possess as an heritage, is a land polluted with the pollutions of the strangers of the land, and they have filled it with their uncleanness. Therefore now shall ye not join your daughters unto their sons, neither shall ye take their daughters unto your sons. Neither shall ye seek to have peace with them for ever, that ye may be strong, and eat the good things of the land, and that ye may leave it for an inheritance unto your children for evermore. And all that is befallen is done unto us for our wicked works and great sins: for thou, O Lord, didst make our sins light, and didst give unto us such a root: but we have turned back again to transgress thy law, in mingling ourselves with the uncleanness of the heathen of the land. Thou wast not angry with us to destroy us, till thou hadst left us neither root, seed, nor name. O Lord of Israel, thou art true: for we are left a root this day. Behold, now are we before thee in our iniquities, for we cannot stand any longer before thee by reason of these things.

And as Esdras in his prayer made his confession, weeping, and lying flat upon the ground before the temple, there gathered unto him from Jerusalem a very great throng of men and women and children: for there was great weeping among the multitude. Then Jechonias the son of Jeelus, one of the sons of Israel, called out, and said, O Esdras, we have sinned against the Lord God, we have married strange women of the heathen of the land, and now is all Israel aloft. Let us make an oath unto the Lord herein, that we will put away all our wives, which we have taken of the strangers, with their children, like as seemeth good unto thee, and to as many as do obey the law of the Lord. Arise, and put in execution: for to thee doth this matter appertain, and we will be with thee to do valiantly. So Esdras arose, and took an oath of the chief of the priests and Levites of all Israel to do after these things; and so they sware.

9Then Esdras rising from the court of the temple went to the chamber of Jonas the son of Eliasib, and lodged there, and did eat no bread nor drink water, mourning for the great iniquities of the multitude. And there was made proclamation in all Jewry and Jerusalem to all them that were of the captivity, that they should be gathered together at Jerusalem: and that whosoever met not there within two or three days, according as the elders that bare rule appointed, their cattle should be seized to the use of the temple, and himself cast out from the multitude of them that were of the captivity.

And in three days were all they of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem: this was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the multitude sat together trembling in the broad place before the temple because of the present foul weather. So Esdras arose up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed the law and married strange wives, thereby to increase the sins of Israel. And now make confession and give glory unto the Lord, the God of our fathers, and do his will, and separate yourselves from the heathen of the land, and from the strange women. Then cried the whole multitude, and said with a loud voice, Like as thou hast spoken, so will we do. But forasmuch as the multitude is great, and it is foul weather, so that we cannot stand without, and this is not a work of one day or two, seeing our sin in these things is spread far: therefore let the rulers of the multitude stay, and let all them of our habitations that have strange wives come at the time appointed, and with them the rulers and judges of every place, till we turn away the wrath of the Lord from us for this matter. Then Jonathan the son of Azael and Ezekias the son of Thocanus accordingly took the matter upon them: and Mosollamus and Levis and Sabbateus were assessors to them. And they that were of the captivity did according to all these things.

And Esdras the priest chose unto him principal men of their families, all by name: and on the new moon of the tenth month they were shut in together to examine the matter. So their cause that held strange wives was brought to an end by the new moon of the first month.