Ezra 10 (UDB) · Opened

1While Ezra was kneeling down in front of the temple and praying and crying, he was confessing the sins that the Israelite people had committed. Many people, men and women and children, gathered around him and also cried very much.While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well.

2Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel in the clan of Elam, said this to him: "We have disobeyed God. Some of us have married women who are not Israelites. But we can still hope that Yahweh will be merciful to us Israelite people.Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.

3We will do what you, and the others who have an awesome respect for what our God has commanded, tell us to do. We will do what God told us in his laws. We will make a covenant with our God, saying that we will divorce our wives who are not Israelites, and we will send them away with their children.So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.

4It is your responsibility to tell us what to do. So get up, and be courageous, and do what is necessary. We will support you."Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we will support you. Be strong and take action!”

5So Ezra stood up and demanded that the leaders of the priests, the descendants of Levi, and all the other Israelite people solemnly declare that they would do what Shecaniah said that they should do. So they all solemnly promised to do that.So Ezra got up and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said. And they took the oath.

6Then Ezra went away from in front of the temple and went to the room where Jehohanan lived. He stayed there that night, but he did not eat or drink anything. He was still sad because some of the Israelites who had returned from Babylonia had not faithfully obeyed God's laws.Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. And while he stayed there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

7Then the leaders sent a message to all the people in Jerusalem and in other towns in Judah, saying that all those who had returned from Babylonia should come to Jerusalem immediately.And a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem.

8The leaders also said that if any of them did not arrive within three days, they would order that all the property of those people be taken from them, and that they must no longer be considered to belong to the Israelite people; they would be considered to be foreigners.Whoever failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, according to the counsel of the leaders and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.

9So within three days, all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. They were there, sitting in the courtyard in front of the temple. They were shaking because it was raining hard and because they were worried that they would be punished for what they had done.So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.

10Then Ezra stood up and said to them, "Some of you men have committed an act of treason against God. You have married women who are not Israelites. By doing that, you have made us Israelite people more guilty than we were before.Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

11So now you must worship Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors worshiped, and you must do what he wants. Separate yourselves from the people of other nations and from the women from those nations whom you have married."Now, therefore, make a confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”

12The whole group answered, shouting loudly, "Yes, what you have said is right! We will do what you have said.And the whole assembly responded in a loud voice: “Truly we must do as you say!

13But we are a very large group, and it is raining hard. Also, there are many of us who have committed this evil sin. This is something that we cannot take care of in one or two days, and we cannot stand here in this rain.But there are many people here, and it is the rainy season. We are not able to stay out in the open. Nor is this the work of one or two days, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter.

14So allow our leaders to decide for all of us what we should do. Tell everyone who has married a woman who is not Israelite to come at a time that you decide. They should come with the elders and judges from each city. If we do that, our God will stop being angry with us because of what we have done."Let our leaders represent the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at an appointed time, together with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.”

15Jonathan son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah disagreed with this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai, a descendant of Levi, supported them.(Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this plan.)

16But all the others who had returned from Babylonia said that they would do it. So Ezra chose leaders of each of the clans, and I wrote down their names. On the first day of the tenth month these men came and sat down to investigate the matter.So the exiles did as proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, each of them identified by name, to represent their families. On the first day of the tenth month they launched the investigation,

17By the first day of the first month of the next year they had finished determining which men had married women who were not Israelites.and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.

18This is a list of the names of the priests who had married foreign women, and the clans to which they belonged. In the clan of Jeshua and his brothers, who were sons of Jehozadak, there were Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.Among the descendants of the priests who had married foreign women were found these descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

19They solemnly promised to divorce their wives, and they each sacrificed a ram to be an offering to atone for their sins.They pledged to send their wives away, and for their guilt they presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.

20In the clan of Immer there were Hanani and Zebadiah.From the descendants of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

21In the clan of Harim there were Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.From the descendants of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.

22In the clan of Pashhur there were Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

23The descendants of Levi who had married foreign women were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (whose other name was Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.Among the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

24There was Eliashib the musician. Among the temple guards there were Shallum, Telem, and Uri.From the singers: Eliashib. From the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

25This is a list of the names of the other Israelites who had married foreign wives: In the clan of Parosh there were Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah, and Benaiah.And among the other Israelites, from the descendants of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah.

26In the clan of Elam there were Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.

27In the clan of Zattu there were Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.From the descendants of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.

28In the clan of Bebai there were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.From the descendants of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.

29In the clan of Bani there were Meshullam, Malluk, Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal Jeremoth.From the descendants of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.

30In the clan of Pahath-Moab there were Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.From the descendants of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.

31In the clan of Harim there were Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

32Benjamin, Malluk, and Shemariah.Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.

33In the clan of Hashum there were Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.From the descendants of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.

34In the clan of Bani there were Maadai, Amram, Uel,From the descendants of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,

35Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi,Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,

36Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

37Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.

38In the clan of Binnui there were Shimei,From the descendants of Binnui: Shimei,

39Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,

40Maknadebai, Shashai, Sharai,Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

41Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,

42Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.

43In the clan of Nebo there were Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, Joel, and Benaiah.And from the descendants of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.

44Each of those men had married a woman who was not an Israelite, and some of them had children by those women.All these men had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives.

Ezra 10

Shecaniah’s Encouragement

The People’s Confession of Sin

Those Guilty of Intermarriage

You’ve read Ezra 10

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Ezra 10

Shecaniah’s Encouragement

The People’s Confession of Sin

Those Guilty of Intermarriage

You’ve read Ezra 10

Go Deeper