Ezra 9–10

Chapter 9

¹Now when these things were completed, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites; ²for they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and have mingled the holy seed with the peoples of the lands; and the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this unfaithfulness. ³And when I heard this thing, I rent my mantle and my garment, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down overwhelmed. ⁴Then were assembled to me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the unfaithfulness of those that had been carried away; and I sat overwhelmed until the evening oblation.

⁵And at the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation; and with my mantle and my garment rent, I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to Jehovah my God, ⁶and 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 to the heavens. ⁷Since the days of our fathers, we have been in great trespass to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, our priests, have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, and to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. ⁸And now for a little space there hath been favour from Jehovah 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. ⁹For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us before the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. ¹⁰And now, what shall we say, our God, after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, ¹¹which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the filthiness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations with which they have filled it from one end to another through their uncleanness. ¹²Now therefore give not your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity 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. ¹³And 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, ¹⁴should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples of these abominations? wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor any to escape? ¹⁵Jehovah, God of Israel, thou art righteous; for we are a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before thee in our trespasses; for there is no standing before thee because of this.

Chapter 10

¹And while Ezra prayed, and made confession, weeping and falling down before the house of God, there were gathered to him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children; for the people wept very much. ²And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have acted unfaithfully toward our God, and have taken foreign wives of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing. ³And now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandments of our God; and let it be done according to the law. ⁴Arise, for this matter is incumbent on thee, and we will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it. ⁵Then Ezra arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, of the Levites, and of all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. And they swore.

⁶And Ezra arose from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came thither, he ate no bread and drank no water; for he mourned because of the unfaithfulness of them that had been carried away. ⁷And they made proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; ⁸and that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be confiscated, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away. ⁹Then were all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the open space of the house of God, trembling because of the matter, and because of the pouring rain. ¹⁰And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, Ye have acted unfaithfully, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. ¹¹And now make confession to Jehovah the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign wives. ¹²And the whole congregation answered and said with a loud voice, Yes, it is for us to do according to thy words. ¹³But the people are many, and it is a time of pouring rain, and it is not possible to stand without: neither is this a work for one day or two; for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. ¹⁴Let now our princes, while this matter is going on, stand for all the congregation, and let all those that have taken foreign wives in our cities come at the appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce anger of our God be turned from us.

¹⁵Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this; and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. ¹⁶And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest and certain of the chief fathers were separated according to their fathers’ houses, and all of them expressed by name; and they sat down on the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. ¹⁷And they ended with all the men that had taken foreign wives by the first day of the first month. ¹⁸And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken foreign wives, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren: Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. ¹⁹And they gave their hand to send away their wives; and they offered a ram of the flock, as trespass-offering for their guilt. ²⁰And of the children of Immer: Hanani, and Zebadiah. ²¹And of the children of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. ²²And of the children of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah. ²³And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. ²⁴And of the singers: Eliashib. And of the doorkeepers: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. ²⁵And of Israel; of the children of Parosh: Ramiah, and Jizzijah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah. ²⁶And of the children of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah. ²⁷And of the children of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. ²⁸And of the children of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai. ²⁹And of the children of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth. ³⁰And of the children of Pahath-Moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. ³¹And the children of Harim: Eliezer, Jishijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Simeon, ³²Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah. ³³Of the children of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei. ³⁴Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel, ³⁵Benaiah, Bediah, Cheluhu, ³⁶Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, ³⁷Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasai, ³⁸and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei, ³⁹and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, ⁴⁰Machnadbai, Shashai, Sharai, ⁴¹Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, ⁴²Shallum, Amariah, Joseph. ⁴³Of the children of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, and Joel, Benaiah. ⁴⁴All these had taken foreign wives; and there were among them wives who had had children.