עזרא 10
| וכהתפלל עזרא וכהתודתו בכה ומתנפל לפני בית האלהים נקבצו אליו מישראל קהל רב מאד אנשים ונשים וילדים--כי בכו העם הרבה בכה | 1 |
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.
| ויען שכניה בן יחיאל מבני עולם (עילם) ויאמר לעזרא--אנחנו מעלנו באלהינו ונשב נשים נכריות מעמי הארץ ועתה יש מקוה לישראל על זאת | 2 |
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.
| ועתה נכרת ברית לאלהינו להוציא כל נשים והנולד מהם בעצת אדני והחרדים במצות אלהינו וכתורה יעשה | 3 |
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.
| קום כי עליך הדבר ואנחנו עמך חזק ועשה | 4 |
(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).”
| ויקם עזרא וישבע את שרי הכהנים הלוים וכל ישראל לעשות כדבר הזה--וישבעו | 5 |
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.
| ויקם עזרא מלפני בית האלהים וילך אל לשכת יהוחנן בן אלישיב וילך שם לחם לא אכל ומים לא שתה--כי מתאבל על מעל הגולה | 6 |
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].
| ויעבירו קול ביהודה וירושלם לכל בני הגולה--להקבץ ירושלם | 7 |
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.
| וכל אשר לא יבוא לשלשת הימים כעצת השרים והזקנים--יחרם כל רכושו והוא יבדל מקהל הגולה | 8 |
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].
| ויקבצו כל אנשי יהודה ובנימן ירושלם לשלשת הימים הוא חדש התשיעי--בעשרים בחדש וישבו כל העם ברחוב בית האלהים מרעידים על הדבר ומהגשמים | 9 |
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].
| ויקם עזרא הכהן ויאמר אלהם אתם מעלתם ותשיבו נשים נכריות--להוסיף על אשמת ישראל | 10 |
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].
| ועתה תנו תודה ליהוה אלהי אבתיכם--ועשו רצונו והבדלו מעמי הארץ ומן הנשים הנכריות | 11 |
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.”
| ויענו כל הקהל ויאמרו קול גדול כן כדבריך (כדברך) עלינו לעשות | 12 |
The whole group answered, shouting loudly, “Yes, what you have said is right! We will do what you have said.”
| אבל העם רב והעת גשמים ואין כח לעמוד בחוץ והמלאכה לא ליום אחד ולא לשנים--כי הרבינו לפשע בדבר הזה | 13 |
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.
| יעמדו נא שרינו לכל הקהל וכל אשר בערינו ההשיב נשים נכריות יבא לעתים מזמנים ועמהם זקני עיר ועיר ושפטיה עד להשיב חרון אף אלהינו ממנו--עד לדבר הזה | 14 |
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].”
| אך יונתן בן עשהאל ויחזיה בן תקוה עמדו על זאת ומשלם ושבתי הלוי עזרם | 15 |
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.
| ויעשו כן בני הגולה ויבדלו עזרא הכהן אנשים ראשי האבות לבית אבתם וכלם בשמות וישבו ביום אחד לחדש העשירי לדריוש הדבר | 16 |
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.
| ויכלו בכל--אנשים ההשיבו נשים נכריות עד יום אחד לחדש הראשון | 17 |
By March 27 of the next year they finished determining which men had married women who were not Israelis.
| וימצא מבני הכהנים אשר השיבו נשים נכריות מבני ישוע בן יוצדק ואחיו--מעשיה ואליעזר ויריב וגדליה | 18 |
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.
| ויתנו ידם להוציא נשיהם ואשמים איל צאן על אשמתם | 19 |
They solemnly promised to divorce their wives, and they each sacrificed a ram to be an offering [to atone] for their sins.
| ומבני אמר חנני וזבדיה | 20 |
From the clan of Immer there were Hanani and Zebadiah.
| ומבני חרם--מעשיה ואליה ושמעיה ויחיאל ועזיה | 21 |
From the clan of Harim there were Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.
| ומבני פשחור--אליועיני מעשיה ישמעאל נתנאל יוזבד ואלעשה | 22 |
From the clan of Pashhur there were Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
| ומן הלוים--יוזבד ושמעי וקליה הוא קליטא פתחיה יהודה ואליעזר | 23 |
The [other] descendants of Levi [who had married non-Israeli women] were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (whose other name was Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
| ומן המשררים אלישיב ומן השערים שלם וטלם ואורי | 24 |
There was Eliashib the musician. From the temple guards there were Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
| ומישראל--מבני פרעש רמיה ויזיה ומלכיה ומימן ואלעזר ומלכיה ובניה | 25 |
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.
| ומבני עילם--מתניה זכריה ויחיאל ועבדי וירימות ואליה | 26 |
From the clan of Elam there were Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
| ומבני זתוא--אליועני אלישיב מתניה וירמות וזבד ועזיזא | 27 |
From the clan of Zattu there were Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.
| ומבני בבי--יהוחנן חנניה זבי עתלי | 28 |
From the clan of Bebai there were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.
| ומבני בני--משלם מלוך ועדיה ישוב ושאל ירמות (ורמות) | 29 |
From the clan of Bani there were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.
| ומבני פחת מואב עדנא וכלל בניה מעשיה מתניה בצלאל ובנוי ומנשה | 30 |
From the clan of Pahath-Moab there were Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.
| ובני חרם--אליעזר ישיה מלכיה שמעיה שמעון | 31 |
From the clan of Harim there were Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
| בנימן מלוך שמריה | 32 |
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
| מבני חשם--מתני מתתה זבד אליפלט ירמי מנשה שמעי | 33 |
From the clan of Hashum there were Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.
| מבני בני מעדי עמרם ואואל | 34 |
From the clan of Bigvai there were Maadai, Amram, Uel,
| בניה בדיה כלוהי (כלוהו) | 35 |
Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi,
| וניה מרמות אלישיב | 36 |
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
| מתניה מתני ויעשו (ויעשי) | 37 |
Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.
| ובני ובנוי שמעי | 38 |
From the clan of Binnui there were Shimei,
| ושלמיה ונתן ועדיה | 39 |
Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,
| מכנדבי ששי שרי | 40 |
Macnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
| עזראל ושלמיהו שמריה | 41 |
Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
| שלום אמריה יוסף | 42 |
Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.
| מבני נבו--יעיאל מתתיה זבד זבינא ידו (ידי) ויואל בניה | 43 |
From the clan of Nebo there were Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
| כל אלה נשאי (נשאו) נשים נכריות ויש מהם נשים וישימו בנים | 44 |
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.
