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You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters,

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Do not intermarry with them.(A) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

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The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.

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They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry(A) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

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12 “But if you turn away from him and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them, 13 then know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive them out of your land. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap to you, a whip for your backs and thorny brambles in your eyes, and you will vanish from this good land the Lord your God has given you.

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12 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them(A) and associate with them,(B) 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out(C) these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares(D) and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes,(E) until you perish from this good land,(F) which the Lord your God has given you.

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15 “You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them. 16 Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods.

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15 “Be careful not to make a treaty(A) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute(B) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.(C) 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(D) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(E) they will lead your sons to do the same.

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The Temple of the Living God

14 Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil[a]? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:

“I will live in them
    and walk among them.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.[b]
17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers,
    and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.
Don’t touch their filthy things,
    and I will welcome you.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. 6:15 Greek Beliar; various other manuscripts render this proper name of the devil as Belian, Beliab, or Belial.
  2. 6:16 Lev 26:12; Ezek 37:27.
  3. 6:17 Isa 52:11; Ezek 20:34 (Greek version).

Warning Against Idolatry

14 Do not be yoked together(A) with unbelievers.(B) For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?(C) 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[a]?(D) Or what does a believer(E) have in common with an unbeliever?(F) 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?(G) For we are the temple(H) of the living God.(I) As God has said:

“I will live with them
    and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.”[b](J)

17 Therefore,

“Come out from them(K)
    and be separate,
says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
    and I will receive you.”[c](L)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 6:15 Greek Beliar, a variant of Belial
  2. 2 Corinthians 6:16 Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27
  3. 2 Corinthians 6:17 Isaiah 52:11; Ezek. 20:34,41

23 About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Furthermore, half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all. 25 So I confronted them and called down curses on them. I beat some of them and pulled out their hair. I made them swear in the name of God that they would not let their children intermarry with the pagan people of the land.

26 “Wasn’t this exactly what led King Solomon of Israel into sin?” I demanded. “There was no king from any nation who could compare to him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel. But even he was led into sin by his foreign wives. 27 How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?”

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23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married(A) women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.(B) 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language(C) of Judah. 25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath(D) in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.(E) 26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him.(F) He was loved by his God,(G) and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.(H) 27 Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying(I) foreign women?”

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and they intermarried with them. Israelite sons married their daughters, and Israelite daughters were given in marriage to their sons. And the Israelites served their gods.

Othniel Becomes Israel’s Judge

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles.

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They took their daughters(A) in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.(B)

Othniel

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord(C) their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.(D)

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Ezra’s Prayer concerning Intermarriage

When these things had been done, the Jewish leaders came to me and said, “Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. Worse yet, the leaders and officials have led the way in this outrage.”

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Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage

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) 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)

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The sons of God saw the beautiful women[a] and took any they wanted as their wives. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with[b] humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.”

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Footnotes

  1. 6:2 Hebrew daughters of men; also in 6:4.
  2. 6:3 Greek version reads will not remain in.

the sons of God(A) saw that the daughters(B) of humans were beautiful,(C) and they married(D) any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit(E) will not contend with[a] humans forever,(F) for they are mortal[b];(G) their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 6:3 Or My spirit will not remain in
  2. Genesis 6:3 Or corrupt