A Prayer of Ezra Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said,“The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
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2Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this unfaithfulness!”
10“And now what are we able to say after this, our God? For we have forsaken your commandments
11which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words:‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness.
14All the leaders of the priests and people became more unfaithful and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations. They defiled the LORD’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
1The People Acknowledge Their Sin before God On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.
2Those truly of Israelite descent separated from all the foreigners, standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.
14Let our leaders take steps on behalf of all the assembly. Let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, and with them the elders of each town and its judges, until the hot anger of our God is turned away from us in this matter.”
2The first to resettle on their property and in their cities were some Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.
27for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become unclean.
14Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?
9All the men of Judah and Benjamin were gathered in Jerusalem within the three days.(It was in the ninth month, on the twentieth day of that month.) All the people sat in the square at the temple of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the rains.
10Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them,“You have behaved in an unfaithful manner by taking foreign wives! This has contributed to the guilt of Israel.
11Now give praise to the LORD God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the local residents and from these foreign wives.”
23Also in those days I saw the men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
28“Now the rest of the people– the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand–
29hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders and enter into a curse and an oath to adhere to the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, along with his ordinances and his statutes.
11Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the LORD loves and has turned to a foreign god!
3When they heard the law, they removed from Israel all who were of mixed ancestry.
9But you banished the LORD’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!
27Should we then in your case hear that you do all this great evil, thereby being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign wives?”
2Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, addressed Ezra:“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the local peoples. Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard.
3Therefore let us enact a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, and that of those who respect the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.
19I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the other people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf.
29Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, and the Levites.
30So I purified them of everything foreign, and I assigned specific duties to the priests and the Levites.
44All these had taken foreign wives, and some of them also had children by these women.
9Provision for Prophetism When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations.
24Warning against the Abominations of the Nations“‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you have been defiled with all these things.
16So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out by name men who were leaders in their family groups. They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,
18Those Who Had Taken Foreign Wives It was determined that from the descendants of the priests, the following had taken foreign wives: from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
19(They gave their word to send away their wives; their guilt offering was a ram from the flock for their guilt.)
5The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
25So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying,“You will not marry off your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!
3These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem.(While other Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple attendants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon settled in the cities of Judah, each on his own property in their cities,
9Then I said,“The thing that you are doing is wrong! Should you not conduct yourselves in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?
12But if you ever turn away and make alliances with these nations that remain near you, and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them,
1Further Reforms by Nehemiah On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people. They found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God,
7We have behaved corruptly against you, not obeying the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded your servant Moses.
5He said to them:“Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the LORD God of your ancestors! Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean!
6For our fathers were unfaithful; they did what is evil in the sight of the LORD our God and abandoned him! They turned away from the LORD’s dwelling place and rejected him.
8they observed the practices of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before them, and followed the example of the kings of Israel.
11“King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins. He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.
4When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done in Israel,
16The priests then entered the LORD’s temple to purify it; they brought out to the courtyard of the LORD’s temple every ceremonially unclean thing they discovered inside. The Levites took them out to the Kidron Valley.
1Opposition to the Building Efforts When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles were building a temple for the LORD God of Israel,
9Have you forgotten all the wicked things that have been done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their wives, by you and your wives?
20Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
23You must not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them.