Ezra Prays About Intermarriage

9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the ^(A)Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands ^(B)with their abominations, from the ^(C)Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ^2 (D)For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the ^(E)holy race^[a] has ^(F)mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” ³ As soon as I heard this, I ^(G)tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and ^(H)sat appalled. ⁴ Then all who ^(I)trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat ^(J)appalled until the evening sacrifice. ⁵ And at the ^(K)evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment ^(L)and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees ^(M)and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, ⁶ saying:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities ^(N)have risen higher than our heads, and our ^(O)guilt has ^(P)mounted up to the heavens. ^7 (Q)From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great ^(R)guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, ^(S)and to utter shame, as it is today. ⁸ But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a ^(T)remnant and to give us a ^(U)secure hold^[b] within his holy place, that our God may ^(V)brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. ^9 (W)For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, ^(X)but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection^[c] in Judea 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 that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with ^(Y)their uncleanness. ^12 (Z)Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land ^(AA)and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ ¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for ^(AB)our great guilt, seeing that you, our ^(AC)God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a ^(AD)remnant as this, ¹⁴ shall we break your commandments again and ^(AE)intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us ^(AF)until you consumed us, so that there should be no ^(AG)remnant, nor any to escape? ¹⁵ O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a ^(AH)remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our ^(AI)guilt, ^(AJ)for none can stand before you because of this.”

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant^[a] of God and ^(A)an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and ^(B)their knowledge of the truth, ^(C)which accords with godliness, ^2 (D)in hope of eternal life, which God, ^(E)who never lies, ^(F)promised ^(G)before the ages began^{[b] 3} and ^(H)at the proper time manifested in his word^{[c] (I)}through the preaching ^(J)with which I have been entrusted ^(K)by the command of God our Savior;

⁴ To Titus, ^(L)my true child in ^(M)a common faith:

^(N)Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

^5 (O)This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^(P)appoint elders in every town as I directed you— ^6 (Q)if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,^[d] and his children are believers^[e] and not open to the charge of ^(R)debauchery or insubordination. ⁷ For an overseer,^{[f] (S)}as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^(T)be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^(U)or greedy for gain, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^(V)and disciplined. ⁹ He must ^(W)hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^(X)sound^[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰ For there are many who are insubordinate, ^(Y)empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^(Z)the circumcision party.^{[h] 11} They must be silenced, since ^(AA)they are upsetting whole families by teaching ^(AB)for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ^12 (AC)One of the Cretans,^[i] a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”^{[j] 13} This testimony is true. Therefore ^(AD)rebuke them ^(AE)sharply, that they ^(AF)may be sound in the faith, ^14 (AG)not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^(AH)the commands of people ^(AI)who turn away from the truth. ^15 (AJ)To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^(AK)unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^(AL)their minds and their consciences are defiled. ^16 (AM)They profess to know God, but they ^(AN)deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^(AO)unfit for any good work.

Teach Sound Doctrine

2 But as for you, teach what accords with ^(AP)sound^[k] doctrine. ² Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^(AQ)sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. ^3 (AR)Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^(AS)not slanderers ^(AT)or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, ^(AU)pure, ^(AV)working at home, kind, and ^(AW)submissive to their own husbands, ^(AX)that the word of God may not be reviled. ⁶ Likewise, urge ^(AY)the younger men to be self-controlled. ⁷ Show yourself in all respects to be ^(AZ)a model of good works, and in your teaching ^(BA)show integrity, ^(BB)dignity, ⁸ and ^(BC)sound speech that cannot be condemned, ^(BD)so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

The People Confess Their Sin

10 ^(A)While Ezra prayed and ^(B)made confession, weeping and ^(C)casting himself down ^(D)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. ² And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: ^(E)“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. ³ Therefore ^(F)let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and ^(G)their children, according to the counsel of my lord^[a] and of ^(H)those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done ^(I)according to the Law. ⁴ Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; ^(J)be strong and do it.” ⁵ Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel ^(K)take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.

⁶ Then Ezra withdrew ^(L)from before the house of God and went to the ^(M)chamber of ^(N)Jehohanan the son of ^(O)Eliashib, where he spent the night,^[b] neither ^(P)eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. ⁷ And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, ⁸ and that if anyone 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.

⁹ Then 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 ^(Q)heavy rain. ¹⁰ And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. ¹¹ Now then ^(R)make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. ^(S)Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” ¹² Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said. ¹³ But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. ¹⁴ Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come ^(T)at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, ^(U)until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.” ¹⁵ Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and ^(V)Meshullam and ^(W)Shabbethai the Levite supported them.

¹⁶ Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men,^[c] 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; ¹⁷ and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.

Those Guilty of Intermarriage

¹⁸ Now there were found some of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, some of the sons of ^(X)Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers. ¹⁹ They ^(Y)pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was ^(Z)a ram of the flock for their guilt.^[d]

The Full Assurance of Faith

^19 (A)Therefore, brothers,^[a] since we have confidence to enter ^(B)the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by ^(C)the new and living way that he opened for us through ^(D)the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have ^(E)a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts ^(F)sprinkled clean ^(G)from an evil conscience and our bodies ^(H)washed with pure water. ^23 (I)Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for ^(J)he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And ^(K)let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ^25 (L)not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and ^(M)all the more as you see ^(N)the Day drawing near.

²⁶ For ^(O)if we go on sinning deliberately ^(P)after receiving the knowledge of the truth, ^(Q)there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ^27 (R)but a fearful expectation of judgment, and ^(S)a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ^28 (T)Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy ^(U)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one ^(V)who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned ^(W)the blood of the covenant ^(X)by which he was sanctified, and has ^(Y)outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, ^(Z)“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, ^(AA)“The Lord will judge his people.” ^31 (AB)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³² But recall the former days when, after ^(AC)you were enlightened, you endured ^(AD)a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³ sometimes being ^(AE)publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴ For ^(AF)you had compassion on those in prison, and ^(AG)you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had ^(AH)a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵ Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has ^(AI)a great reward. ³⁶ For ^(AJ)you have need of endurance, so that ^(AK)when you have done the will of God you may ^(AL)receive what is promised. ³⁷ For,

³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.