Ezra 10

1 And 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.

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 And 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.

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 And 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.

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 this matter is incumbent on thee, and we will be with thee: be of good courage, 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, of the Levites, and of all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. And 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 And 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.

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 And they made proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto 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 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.

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 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.

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 And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, Ye have acted unfaithfully, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass 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 And 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.

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 And the whole congregation answered and said with a loud voice, Yes, it is for us to do according to thy words.

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 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.

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 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.

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 And 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.

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 ended with all the men that had taken foreign wives 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 And 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.

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 And they gave their hand to send away their wives; and they offered a ram of the flock, as trespass-offering 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 And of the children of Immer: Hanani, and Zebadiah.

From the clan of Immer there were Hanani and Zebadiah.

21 And of the children 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 And of the children of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

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

23 And 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 And of the singers: Eliashib. And of the doorkeepers: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.

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

25 And of Israel; of the children of Parosh: Ramiah, and Jizzijah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, 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 And of the children 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 And of the children 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 And of the children of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.

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

29 And of the children of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth.

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

30 And of the children of Pahath-Moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.

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

31 And the children of Harim: Eliezer, Jishijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Simeon,

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

32 Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.

33 Of the children 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, Bediah, Cheluhu,

Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi,

36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasai,

Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.

38 and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,

From the clan of Binnui there were Shimei,

39 and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,

Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,

40 Machnadbai, Shashai, Sharai,

Macnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

41 Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,

42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.

43 Of the children 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 there were among them wives who had 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.