Ezra 10

¹While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel; for the people wept bitterly. ²And Shecaniʹah the son of Jehiʹel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. ³Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. ⁴Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.” ⁵Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.

⁶Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God, and went to the chamber of Jehohaʹnan the son of Eliʹashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water; for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. ⁷And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, ⁸and that if any one did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.

⁹Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. ¹⁰And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have trespassed and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. ¹¹Now then make confession to the Lord the God of your fathers, and do his will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” ¹²Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said. ¹³But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a work for one day or for two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. ¹⁴Let our officials stand for the whole assembly; let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, till the fierce wrath of our God over this matter be averted from us.” ¹⁵Only Jonathan the son of Asʹahel and Jahzeiʹah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshulʹlam and Shabʹbethai the Levite supported them.

¹⁶Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers’ houses, according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter; ¹⁷and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.

¹⁸Of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women were found Ma-aseiʹah, Elieʹzer, Jarib, and Gedaliʹah, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Joʹzadak and his brethren. ¹⁹They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt. ²⁰Of the sons of Immer: Hanaʹni and Zebadiʹah. ²¹Of the sons of Harim: Ma-aseiʹah, Eliʹjah, Shemaiʹah, Jehiʹel, and Uzziʹah. ²²Of the sons of Pashhur: Eli-o-eʹnai, Ma-aseiʹah, Ishʹmael, Nethanʹel, Joʹzabad, and Elaʹsah.

²³Of the Levites: Joʹzabad, Shimʹe-i, Kelaiʹah (that is, Keliʹta), Petha-hiʹah, Judah, and Elieʹzer. ²⁴Of the singers: Eliʹashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

²⁵And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiʹah, Izziʹah, Malchiʹjah, Miʹjamin, Eleaʹzar, Hashabiʹah, and Benaiʹah. ²⁶Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniʹah, Zechariʹah, Jehiʹel, Abdi, Jerʹemoth, and Eliʹjah. ²⁷Of the sons of Zattu: Eli-o-eʹnai, Eliʹashib, Mattaniʹah, Jerʹemoth, Zabad, and Aziʹza. ²⁸Of the sons of Beʹbai were Jehohaʹnan, Hananiʹah, Zabʹbai, and Athʹlai. ²⁹Of the sons of Bani were Meshulʹlam, Malluch, Adaiʹah, Jashub, Sheʹal, and Jerʹemoth. ³⁰Of the sons of Paʹhath-moʹab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiʹah, Ma-aseiʹah, Mattaniʹah, Bezʹalel, Binʹnui, and Manasʹseh. ³¹Of the sons of Harim: Elieʹzer, Isshiʹjah, Malchiʹjah, Shemaiʹah, Shimʹe-on, ³²Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariʹah. ³³Of the sons of Hashum: Matteʹnai, Matʹtattah, Zabad, Eliphʹelet, Jerʹemai, Manasʹseh, and Shimʹe-i. ³⁴Of the sons of Bani: Ma-adaʹi, Amram, Uel, ³⁵Benaiʹah, Bedeiʹah, Chelʹuhi, ³⁶Vaniʹah, Merʹemoth, Eliʹashib, ³⁷Mattaniʹah, Matteʹnai, Jaʹasu. ³⁸Of the sons of Binʹnui: Shimʹe-i, ³⁹Shelemiʹah, Nathan, Adaiʹah, ⁴⁰Machnadʹebai, Shashai, Shaʹrai, ⁴¹Azʹarel, Shelemiʹah, Shemariʹah, ⁴²Shallum, Amariʹah, and Joseph. ⁴³Of the sons of Nebo: Je-iʹel, Mattithiʹah, Zabad, Zebiʹna, Jaddai, Joʹel, and Benaiʹah. ⁴⁴All these had married foreign women, and they put them away with their children.