Mixed Marriages

9 Now when these things had been completed, the officials approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not ^(A)separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, ^(B)as to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ² For ^(C)they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that ^(D)the holy ^[a]race has ^(E)intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the officials and the leaders have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness.” ³ When I heard about this matter, I ^(F)tore my garment and my robe, and pulled out some of the hair from my head and my beard, and ^(G)sat down ^[b]appalled. ⁴ Then ^(H)everyone who was frightened by the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat ^[c]appalled until ^(I)the evening offering.

Prayer of Confession

⁵ But at the evening offering I stood up from my ^[d]humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and ^(J)spread out my ^[e]hands to the Lord my God; ⁶ and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongful deeds have ^[f]risen above our heads, and our ^(K)guilt has grown even to the heavens. ^7 (L)Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our wrongful deeds we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to ^[g](M)open shame, as it is this day. ⁸ But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, ^(N)to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a ^[h](O)peg in His holy place, so that our God may ^(P)enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. ^9 (Q)For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not abandoned us, but ^(R)has extended favor to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to erect the house of our God, to restore its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned Your commandments, ¹¹ which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and ^(S)with their impurity. ¹² So now do not ^(T)give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, and ^(U)never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, and ^(V)leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’ ¹³ And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and ^(W)our great guilt, since You our God have spared us by inflicting less than our wrongdoing deserves, and have given us such ^(X)an escaped remnant as this, ^14 (Y)shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples ^[i]who commit these abominations? ^(Z)Would You not be angry with us ^[j]to the point of destruction, until there would be no remnant nor any who would escape? ¹⁵ Lord God of Israel, ^(AA)You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in ^(AB)our guilt, for ^(AC)no one can stand before You because of this.”

Reconciliation with God

10 Now ^(AD)while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself ^(AE)before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept greatly. ² Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra, “^(AF)We have been unfaithful to our God and have ^[k]married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. ³ So now ^(AG)let’s make a covenant with our God to send away all the wives and ^[l](AH)their children, following the counsel of ^[m]my lord and of ^(AI)those who fear the commandment of our God; and let it be done ^(AJ)according to the Law. ⁴ Arise! For this matter is ^[n]your responsibility, but we will be with you; ^(AK)be courageous and act.”

⁵ Then Ezra stood and ^(AL)made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel take an oath that they would do according to this ^[o]proposal; so they took the oath. ⁶ Then Ezra ^(AM)rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Although he went there, ^(AN)he did not eat bread nor drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. ⁷ So they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they were to assemble at Jerusalem, ⁸ and that whoever did not come within three days, in accordance with the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his property would be forfeited, and he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

⁹ So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the public square before the house of God, ^(AO)trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain. ¹⁰ Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives, adding to the guilt of Israel. ¹¹ Now therefore, ^(AP)make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and ^(AQ)do His will; and ^(AR)separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” ¹² Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice, “It is ^[p]our duty to do exactly as you have said! ¹³ However, there are many people, it is the rainy season, and we are not able to stand in the open. Nor can the task be done in one or two days, because we have done a great wrong in this matter. ¹⁴ Please let our leaders ^[q]represent all the assembly and have all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the ^(AS)fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.” ¹⁵ Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah ^[r]opposed this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.

¹⁶ But the exiles did so. And ^[s]Ezra the priest selected men who were the heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they ^[t]convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter. ¹⁷ And they finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.

List of Offenders

¹⁸ Now among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of ^(AT)Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. ¹⁹ They ^[u]pledged to send away their wives, and being guilty, ^(AU)they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt. ²⁰ Of the sons of Immer, there were Hanani and Zebadiah; ²¹ and of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah; ²² and of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³ Of the Levites there were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴ Of the singers there was Eliashib; and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

²⁵ Of Israel, of the sons of ^(AV)Parosh there were Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah; ²⁶ and of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah; ²⁷ and of the sons of ^(AW)Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza; ²⁸ and of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai; ²⁹ and of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch and Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth; ³⁰ and of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh; ³¹ and of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, ^(AX)Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, ³² Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah; ³³ of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei; ³⁴ of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, ³⁵ Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, ³⁶ Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, ³⁷ Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu, ³⁸ Bani, Binnui, Shimei, ³⁹ Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, ⁴⁰ Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, ⁴¹ Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, ⁴² Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. ⁴³ Of the sons of ^(AY)Nebo there were Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah. ⁴⁴ All of these men had married ^(AZ)foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in ^(B)the month Chislev, ^(C)in the twentieth year, while I was in ^(D)Susa the ^[a]capitol, ² that ^(E)Hanani, one of my brothers, ^[b]and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped ^[c]and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. ³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the ^(F)province who survived the captivity are in great distress and ^(G)disgrace, and ^(H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and ^(I)its gates have been burned with fire.”

⁴ Now when I heard these words, ^(J)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before ^(K)the God of heaven. ⁵ I said, “Please, Lord God of heaven, ^(L)the great and awesome God, ^(M)who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments: ^6 (N)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, ^(O)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; ^(P)I and my father’s house have sinned. ^7 (Q)We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances ^(R)which You commanded Your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘^(S)If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; ^9 (T)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I ^(U)will gather them from there and bring them ^(V)to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’ ^10 (W)They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. ¹¹ Please, Lord, ^(X)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to ^[d]revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.”

Now I was the ^(Y)cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

2 And it came about in the month Nisan, ^(Z)in the twentieth year of King ^(AA)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and ^(AB)I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? ^(AC)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ And I said to the king, “^(AD)May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad ^(AE)when the city, the ^[e]site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “^[f]What would you request?” ^(AF)So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and ^(AG)I gave him a definite time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me ^(AH)for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s ^(AI)forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(AJ)the citadel which is by the ^[g]temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because ^(AK)the good hand of my God was on me.

⁹ Then I came to ^(AL)the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River and gave them the king’s letters. Now ^(AM)the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. ¹⁰ And when ^(AN)Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[h]official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹ So I ^(AO)came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. ¹² And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my ^[i]mind to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. ¹³ So I went out at night by ^(AP)the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the Dung Gate, and I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem ^(AQ)which were broken down and its ^(AR)gates which had been consumed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I passed on to ^(AS)the Fountain Gate and ^(AT)the King’s Pool, but there was no place for ^[j]my mount to pass. ¹⁵ So I was going up at night by the ^(AU)ravine and inspecting the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. ¹⁶ However, the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that ^(AV)Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” ¹⁸ And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” ^(AW)So they put their hands to the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[k]official, and ^(AX)Geshem the Arab heard about it, ^(AY)they mocked us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(AZ)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ So I answered them and said to them, “^(BA)The God of heaven will make us successful; therefore we His servants will arise and build, ^(BB)but you have no part, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”