A Chosen People^(A)

7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to ^(B)possess, and has cast out many ^(C)nations before you, ^(D)the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, ² and when the Lord your God delivers ^(E)them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. ^(F)You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. ^3 (G)Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. ⁴ For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; ^(H)so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. ⁵ But thus you shall deal with them: you shall ^(I)destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their ^[a]wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

⁶ “For you are a ^[b]holy people to the Lord your God; ^(J)the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Intermarriage with Pagans

9 When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not ^(A)separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, ^(B)with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ² For they have ^(C)taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the ^(D)holy seed is ^(E)mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this ^[a]trespass.” ³ So when I heard this thing, ^(F)I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down ^(G)astonished. ⁴ Then everyone who ^(H)trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the ^(I)evening sacrifice.

⁵ At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and ^(J)spread out my hands to the Lord my God. ⁶ And I said: “O my God, I am too ^(K)ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for ^(L)our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has ^(M)grown up to the heavens. ⁷ Since the days of our fathers to this day ^(N)we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities ^(O)we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the ^(P)sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to ^(Q)humiliation,^[b] as it is this day. ⁸ And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may ^(R)enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. ^9 (S)For we were slaves. ^(T)Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but ^(U)He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us ^(V)a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, ¹¹ which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the ^(W)uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity. ¹² Now therefore, ^(X)do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; and ^(Y)never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and ^(Z)leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.’ ¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God ^(AA)have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such deliverance as this, ¹⁴ should we ^(AB)again break Your commandments, and ^(AC)join in marriage with the people committing these abominations? Would You not be ^(AD)angry with us until You had ^[c]consumed us, so that there would be no remnant or survivor? ¹⁵ O Lord God of Israel, ^(AE)You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. ^(AF)Here we are before You, ^(AG)in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!”

Confession of Improper Marriages

10 Now ^(AH)while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down ^(AI)before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very ^(AJ)bitterly. ² And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, “We have ^(AK)trespassed^[d] against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. ³ Now therefore, let us make ^(AL)a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who ^(AM)tremble at ^(AN)the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the ^(AO)law. ⁴ Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. ^(AP)Be of good courage, and do it.”

⁵ Then Ezra arose, and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel ^(AQ)swear an oath that they would do according to this word. So they swore an oath. ⁶ Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ^(AR)ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity.

⁷ And they issued a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the descendants of the captivity, that they must gather at Jerusalem, ⁸ and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the instructions of the leaders and elders, all his property would be confiscated, and he himself would be separated from the assembly of those from the captivity.

⁹ So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and ^(AS)all the people sat in the open square of the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of heavy rain. ¹⁰ Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have ^[e]transgressed and ^[f]have taken pagan wives, adding to the guilt of Israel. ¹¹ Now therefore, ^(AT)make confession to the Lord God of your fathers, and do His will; ^(AU)separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the pagan wives.”

¹² Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, “Yes! As you have said, so we must do. ¹³ But there are many people; it is the season for heavy rain, and we are not able to stand outside. Nor is this the work of one or two days, for there are many of us who have transgressed in this matter. ¹⁴ Please, let the leaders of our entire assembly stand; and let all those in our cities who have taken pagan wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of their cities, until ^(AV)the fierce wrath of our God is turned away from us in this matter.” ¹⁵ Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and ^(AW)Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite gave them support.

¹⁶ Then the descendants of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain ^(AX)heads of the fathers’ households, were set apart by the fathers’ households, each of them by name; and they sat down on the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. ¹⁷ By the first day of the first month they finished questioning all the men who had taken pagan wives.

Pagan Wives Put Away

¹⁸ And among the sons of the priests who had taken pagan wives the following were found of the sons of ^(AY)Jeshua the son of ^[g]Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. ¹⁹ And they ^(AZ)gave their promise that they would put away their wives; and being ^(BA)guilty, they presented a ram of the flock as their ^(BB)trespass offering.

²⁰ Also of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah; ²¹ of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah; ²² of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³ Also of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴ Also of the singers: Eliashib; and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

²⁵ And others of Israel: of the ^(BC)sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Jeziah, Malchiah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah; ²⁶ of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Eliah; ²⁷ of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza; ²⁸ of the ^(BD)sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai; ²⁹ of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and ^[h]Ramoth; ³⁰ of the ^(BE)sons of Pahath-Moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh; ³¹ of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, 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, ^[i]Cheluh, ³⁶ Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, ³⁷ Mattaniah, Mattenai, ^[j]Jaasai, 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 Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, ^[k]Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.

⁴⁴ All these had taken pagan wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

Principles of Separation^(A)

13 On that day ^(B)they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written ^(C)that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God, ² because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but ^(D)hired Balaam against them to curse them. ^(E)However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³ So it was, when they had heard the Law, ^(F)that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

The Reforms of Nehemiah

⁴ Now before this, ^(G)Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with ^(H)Tobiah. ⁵ And he had prepared for him a large room, ^(I)where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, ^(J)which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests. ⁶ But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, ^(K)for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king, ⁷ and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in ^(L)preparing a room for him in the courts of the ^[a]house of God. ⁸ And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. ⁹ Then I commanded them to ^(M)cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

¹⁰ I also realized that the portions for the Levites had ^(N)not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to ^(O)his field. ¹¹ So ^(P)I contended with the rulers, and said, ^(Q)“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place. ^12 (R)Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. ^13 (S)And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered ^(T)faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.

^14 (U)Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services!

¹⁵ In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses ^(V)on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, ^(W)which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. ¹⁶ Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

¹⁷ Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? ^18 (X)Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

¹⁹ So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it ^(Y)began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. ^(Z)Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of ^[b]wares ^[c]lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.

²¹ Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night ^[d]around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. ²² And I commanded the Levites that ^(AA)they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.

Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!

²³ In those days I also saw Jews who ^(AB)had married women of ^(AC)Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴ And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.

²⁵ So I ^(AD)contended with them and ^[e]cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them ^(AE)swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. ^26 (AF)Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, ^(AG)who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. ^(AH)Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin. ²⁷ Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, ^(AI)transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?”

²⁸ And one of the sons ^(AJ)of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of ^(AK)Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.

^29 (AL)Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and ^(AM)the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

^30 (AN)Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also ^(AO)assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service, ³¹ and to bringing ^(AP)the wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed times.

^(AQ)Remember me, O my God, for good!