For
we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has
extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant
us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins,
and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.
While Ezra was praying and
confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large
crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept
bitterly. 2 Then Shekaniah son of Jehiel, one of the
descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by
marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there
is still hope for Israel. 3 Now let us make a covenant before
our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the
counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be
done according to the Law. 4 Rise up; this matter is in your
hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”
5 So
Ezra rose up and put the leading priests and Levites and all Israel under oath
to do what had been suggested. And they took the oath. 6 Then
Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the room of Jehohanan
son of Eliashib. While he was there, he ate no food and drank no water, because
he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
7 A
proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles
to assemble in Jerusalem. 8 Anyone who failed to appear within
three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with the decision of
the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of
the exiles.
9 Within
the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem.
And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the
square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because
of the rain. 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them,
“You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s
guilt. 11 Now honor[a] the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do
his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign
wives.”
12 The
whole assembly responded with a loud voice: “You are right! We must do as you
say. 13 But there are many people here and it is the rainy
season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of
in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing. 14 Let
our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who
has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and
judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned
away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son
of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this.
16 So
the exiles did as was proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family
heads, one from each family division, and all of them designated by name. On
the first day of the tenth month they sat down to investigate the cases, 17 and
by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who
had married foreign women.
18 Among
the descendants of the priests, the following had married foreign women:
From
the descendants of Joshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer,
Jarib and Gedaliah. 19 (They all gave their hands in pledge to
put away their wives, and for their guilt they each presented a ram from the
flock as a guilt offering.)
20 From
the descendants of Immer:
Hanani
and Zebadiah.
21 From
the descendants of Harim:
Maaseiah,
Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah.
22 From
the descendants of Pashhur:
Elioenai,
Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Elasah.
23 Among
the Levites:
Jozabad,
Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah and Eliezer.
24 From
the musicians:
Eliashib.
From
the gatekeepers:
Shallum,
Telem and Uri.
25 And
among the other Israelites:
From
the descendants of Parosh:
Ramiah,
Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah and Benaiah.
26 From
the descendants of Elam:
Mattaniah,
Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth and Elijah.
27 From
the descendants of Zattu:
Elioenai,
Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad and Aziza.
28 From
the descendants of Bebai:
Jehohanan,
Hananiah, Zabbai and Athlai.
29 From
the descendants of Bani:
Meshullam,
Malluk, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal and Jeremoth.
30 From
the descendants of Pahath-Moab:
Adna,
Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui and Manasseh.
31 From
the descendants of Harim:
Eliezer,
Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluk and
Shemariah.
33 From
the descendants of Hashum:
Mattenai,
Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh and Shimei.
After
these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of
Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves
separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like
those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites,
Egyptians and Amorites. 2 They have taken some of their
daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy
race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the
way in this unfaithfulness.”
3 When
I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and
sat down appalled. 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of
the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles.
And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.
5 Then,
at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and
cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God 6 and
prayed:
“I
am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our
sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From
the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our
sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and
captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is
today.
8 “But
now, for a brief moment, the Lord
our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place[a] in his
sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our
bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in
our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He
has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins,
and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 “But
now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands 11 you
gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are
entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By
their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end
to the other. 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in
marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a
treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the
good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting
inheritance.’
13 “What
has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet,
our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a
remnant like this. 14 Shall we then break your commands again
and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you
not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? 15 Lord, the God of Israel, you are
righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our
guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”
15 I
assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three
days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites
there. 16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan,
Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib
and Elnathan, who were men of learning, 17 and I ordered them
to go to Iddo, the leader in Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his
fellow Levites, the temple servants in Kasiphia, so that they might bring attendants
to us for the house of our God. 18 Because the gracious hand of
our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the
descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and
brothers, 18 in all; 19 and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah
from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 in all. 20 They
also brought 220 of the temple servants—a body that David and the officials had
established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.
21 There,
by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves
before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all
our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers
and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the
king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his
great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted
and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
24 Then
I set apart twelve of the leading priests, namely, Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten
of their brothers, 25 and I weighed out to them the offering of
silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and
all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. 26 I
weighed out to them 650 talents[c] of silver,
silver articles weighing 100 talents,[d] 100 talents[e] of gold, 27 20
bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics,[f] and two
fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.
28 I
said to them, “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the Lord. The silver and gold are a freewill
offering to the Lord, the God of
your ancestors. 29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them
out in the chambers of the house of the Lord
in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of
Israel.” 30 Then the priests and Levites received the silver
and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house
of our God in Jerusalem.
31 On
the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to
Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and
bandits along the way. 32 So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we
rested three days.
33 On
the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and
the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest.
Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad son of
Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. 34 Everything was accounted
for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time.
35 Then
the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the
God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male
lambs and, as a sin offering,[g] twelve male
goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.
36 They also delivered the king’s orders to the royal satraps
and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people
and to the house of God.
