One Nation Under One King

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came to me:

²⁰ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on ²¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.^{(A) 22} I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.^(B) There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.^{(C) 23} They will no longer defile^(D) themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,^[a](E) and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.^(F)

²⁴ “‘My servant David^(G) will be king^(H) over them, and they will all have one shepherd.^(I) They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.^{(J) 25} They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived.^(K) They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever,^(L) and David my servant will be their prince forever.^{(M) 26} I will make a covenant of peace^(N) with them; it will be an everlasting covenant.^(O) I will establish them and increase their numbers,^(P) and I will put my sanctuary among them^(Q) forever.^{(R) 27} My dwelling place^(S) will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.^{(T) 28} Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy,^(U) when my sanctuary is among them forever.^(V)’”

Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage

9 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^(A) from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites,^(B) Ammonites,^(C) Moabites,^(D) Egyptians and Amorites.^{(E) 2} They have taken some of their daughters^(F) as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled^(G) the holy race^(H) with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”^(I)

³ When I heard this, I tore^(J) my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled.^(K)

The People’s Confession of Sin

10 While Ezra was praying and confessing,^(A) weeping^(B) 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.

¹⁰ Then Ezra^(A) the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.^{(B) 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.”^(C)