Verse 1

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.

Referenced Verses

  • Neh 9:2 : 2 Those truly of Israelite descent separated from all the foreigners, standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.
  • Lev 18:24-30 : 24 Warning 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. 25 Therefore the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 26 You yourselves must obey my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst, 27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become unclean. 28 So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it just as it has vomited out the nations that were before you. 29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, the persons who do them will be cut off from the midst of their people. 30 You must obey my charge not to practice any of the abominable statutes that have been done before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.’”
  • Exod 33:16 : 16 For how will it be known then that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?”
  • Deut 12:30-31 : 30 After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say,“How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the LORD your God the way they do! For everything that is abhorrent to him, everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!
  • Deut 18:9 : 9 Provision for Prophetism When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations.
  • Deut 20:17-18 : 17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them– the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites– just as the LORD your God has commanded you, 18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship their gods, causing you to sin against the LORD your God.
  • Deut 23:3-5 : 3 An Ammonite or Moabite may not enter the assembly of the LORD; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever do so, 4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 5 But the LORD your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed the curse to a blessing, for the LORD your God loves you.
  • 1 Kgs 11:1 : 1 The Lord Punishes Solomon for Idolatry King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women(besides Pharaoh’s daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.
  • 1 Kgs 11:5-7 : 5 Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. 6 Solomon did evil in the LORD’s sight; he did not remain loyal to the LORD, like his father David had. 7 Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.
  • 2 Chr 33:2 : 2 He did evil in the sight of the LORD and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations whom the LORD drove out ahead of the Israelites.
  • Ezra 6:21-22 : 21 The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the LORD God of Israel. 22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the LORD had given them joy and had changed the opinion of the king of Assyria toward them, so that he assisted them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.
  • Ezra 10:8 : 8 Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
  • Ezra 10:10-11 : 10 Then 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. 11 Now give praise to the LORD God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the local residents and from these foreign wives.”
  • Neh 4:3 : 3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said,“If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”
  • Neh 4:7 : 7 (4:1) When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry.
  • Lev 18:3 : 3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; you must not walk in their statutes.
  • Num 23:9 : 9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations.
  • Num 25:1-3 : 1 Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. 2 These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel.
  • Gen 15:16 : 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”
  • Gen 15:19-21 : 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
  • Exod 13:5 : 5 When the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, then you will keep this ceremony in this month.
  • Exod 23:23 : 23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.
  • Neh 13:1-3 : 1 Further 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, 2 for they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but instead had hired Balaam to curse them.(Our God, however, turned the curse into blessing.) 3 When they heard the law, they removed from Israel all who were of mixed ancestry.
  • Ps 106:35 : 35 They mixed in with the nations and learned their ways.
  • Isa 52:11 : 11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don’t touch anything unclean! Get out of it! Stay pure, you who carry the LORD’s holy items!
  • Jer 26:10 : 10 However, some of the officials of Judah heard about what was happening and they rushed up to the LORD’s temple from the royal palace. They set up court at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD’s temple.
  • Jer 26:16 : 16 Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said,“This man should not be condemned to die. For he has spoken to us under the authority of the LORD our God.”
  • Rom 2:17-25 : 17 The Condemnation of the Jew But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relationship to God 18 and know his will and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth– 21 therefore you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 24 For just as it is written,“the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 25 For circumcision has its value if you practice the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
  • 2 Cor 6:14-18 : 14 Unequal Partners Do not become partners with those who do not believe, for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said,“I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 Therefore“come out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord,“and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the All-Powerful Lord.