Ezra 10:1–8

Ezra Makes Israel Swear an Oath

¹Now ^awhile Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself ^bbefore the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept bitterly.

²And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, “^aWe have been unfaithful to our God and have ¹married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

³“So now ^alet us cut a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and ^1btheir children, according to the counsel of ²my lord and of ^cthose who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done ^daccording to the law.

⁴“Arise! For this matter is ¹your responsibility, but we will be with you; ^abe strong and act.”

⁵Then Ezra arose and ^amade the leading priests, the Levites and all Israel, swear an oath that they would do according to this word; so they swore an oath.

⁶Then Ezra ^aarose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. He went there, but ^bhe did not eat bread nor drink water, for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

⁷And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they should gather at Jerusalem,

⁸and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the prince and the elders, all his possessions should be devoted to destruction and he himself separated from the assembly of the exiles.