Ezra 10

1 Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before God's house, there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very bitterly.

While I was kneeling down in front of the temple and praying and crying, I was confessing [the sins that the Israeli people had committed]. Many people, men and women and children, gathered around me and also cried very much.

2 Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered Ezra, "We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land. Yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.

Then Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel from the clan of Elam, said this to me: “We have disobeyed God. [Some of] us have married women who are not Israelis. But we can still confidently expect [Yahweh to be merciful to] us Israeli people.

3 Now therefore 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 who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

We 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 an agreement with our God, saying that we will divorce our wives who are not Israelis, and we will send them away with their children.

4 Arise; for the matter belongs to you, and we are with you. Be courageous, and do it."

(It is your responsibility to/Because you are our leader, you must) [tell us what to do]. So get up, and be courageous, and do [what is necessary]. We will (support you/tell people to do what you say).”

5 Then Ezra arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.

So I stood up and demanded that the leaders of the priests, the [other] descendants of Levi, and all [the other] Israeli people solemnly declare that they would do what Shecaniah said that they should do. So they all solemnly promised to do that.

6 Then Ezra rose up from before God's house, and went into the room of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water; for he mourned because of their trespass of the captivity.

Then I went away from the front of the temple and went to the room where Jehohanan lived. I stayed there that night, but I did not eat or drink anything. I was still sad because some of the Israelis who had returned [from Babylonia] had not faithfully obeyed [God’s laws].

7 They made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the descendants of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem;

Then we 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.

8 and that whoever did not come within three days, according to the counsel of the officials and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.

We said that if any of them did not arrive within three days, the leaders of the people would order that all the property of those people would be taken from them, and that they would no longer be considered to belong to the Israeli people; [they would be considered to be foreigners].

9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the broad place before God's house, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

So within three days, on December 19, 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 trembling because it was raining hard and because they were worried [that they would be punished for what they had done].

10 Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, "You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

Then I stood up and said to them, “[Some of] you men have committed a very bad sin. You have married women who are not Israelis. By doing that, you have made us Israeli people more guilty [than we were before].

11 Now therefore make confession to YHWH, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women."

So now you must confess to Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors [worshiped/belonged to], the sin which you have committed, 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.”

12 Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, "As you have said concerning us, so must we do.

The whole group answered, shouting loudly, “Yes, what you have said is right! We will do what you have said.”

13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside; neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

But then [one of] them said, “But we are a very large group, and it is raining hard. Also, there are many of us who have committed this bad sin. This is something that we cannot (take care of/handle) in one or two days, and we cannot stand here in this rain.

14 Let now our leaders represent the whole assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter is resolved."

So allow our leaders to decide for all of us what we should do. Tell everyone who has married a woman who is not Israeli 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].”

15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this; and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

Jonathan the son of Asahel, Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah, Meshullam, and Shabbethai, a descendant of Levi, were the only ones who objected to this.

16 But the descendants of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest selected for himself men, heads of fathers' houses, according to their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names. So they began their sessions on the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

All the others who had returned from Babylonia said that they would do it. So I chose leaders of each of the clans, and I wrote down their names. On December 29, these men came and sat down to investigate the matter.

17 And they finished with all the men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.

By March 27 of the next year they finished determining which men had married women who were not Israelis.

18 Among the sons of the priests there were found who had married foreign women: of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.

This is a list of the names of the priests who had married non-Israeli women, and the clans to which they belonged. From the clan of Jeshua and his brothers, who were sons of Jehozadak, there were Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

19 They gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

They solemnly promised to divorce their wives, and they each sacrificed a ram to be an offering [to atone] for their sins.

20 Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

From the clan of Immer there were Hanani and Zebadiah.

21 Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.

From the clan of Harim there were Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.

22 Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

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

23 Of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

The [other] descendants of Levi [who had married non-Israeli women] were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (whose other name was Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

24 Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.

There was Eliashib the musician. From the temple guards there were Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

25 Of Israel: Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Hashabiah, and Benaiah.

This is a list of the names of the other Israelis who had married foreign wives: From the clan of Parosh there were Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah, and Benaiah.

26 Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.

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

27 Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.

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

28 Of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.

From the clan of Bebai there were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.

29 Of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, Jeremoth.

From the clan of Bani there were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.

30 Of the sons of Pahath-Moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.

From the clan of Pahath-Moab there were Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.

31 Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

From the clan of Harim there were Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

32 Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.

33 Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.

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

34 Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel,

From the clan of Bigvai there were Maadai, Amram, Uel,

35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi,

Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi,

36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.

Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.

38 And from the sons of Binnui: Shimei,

From the clan of Binnui there were Shimei,

39 and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,

Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,

40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

Macnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

41 Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,

42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.

43 Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, and Joel, Benaiah.

From the clan of Nebo there were Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.

44 All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

Each of those men had married a woman who was not an Israeli. [But immediately] they divorced those women and sent them and their children away.