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.”

The People Confess Their Sin

10 ^(AK)While Ezra prayed and ^(AL)made confession, weeping and ^(AM)casting himself down ^(AN)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: ^(AO)“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 ^(AP)let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and ^(AQ)their children, according to the counsel of my lord^[d] and of ^(AR)those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done ^(AS)according to the Law. ⁴ Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; ^(AT)be strong and do it.” ⁵ Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel ^(AU)take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.

⁶ Then Ezra withdrew ^(AV)from before the house of God and went to the ^(AW)chamber of ^(AX)Jehohanan the son of ^(AY)Eliashib, where he spent the night,^[e] neither ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)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 ^(BB)make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. ^(BC)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 ^(BD)at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, ^(BE)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 ^(BF)Meshullam and ^(BG)Shabbethai the Levite supported them.

¹⁶ Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men,^[f] 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 ^(BH)Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers. ¹⁹ They ^(BI)pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was ^(BJ)a ram of the flock for their guilt.^{[g] 20 (BK)}Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah. ^21 (BL)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 Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. ²⁴ Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

²⁵ And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah,^[h] and Benaiah. ²⁶ Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah. ²⁷ Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza. ²⁸ Of the sons of Bebai were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. ²⁹ Of the sons of Bani were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth. ³⁰ Of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh. ³¹ Of the ^(BM)sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, 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 ^(BN)Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, ³⁵ Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, ³⁶ Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, ³⁷ Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu. ³⁸ Of the sons of Binnui:^[i] 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, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah. ⁴⁴ All these had married foreign women, and some of the women ^(BO)had even borne children.^[j]

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

The Widow's Offering

21 ^(A)Jesus^[a] looked up and saw the rich ^(B)putting their gifts into ^(C)the offering box, ² and he saw a poor widow put in two ^(D)small copper coins.^{[b] 3} And he said, “Truly, I tell you, ^(E)this poor widow has put in more than all of them. ⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her ^(F)poverty put in all ^(G)she had to live on.”

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

^5 (H)And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, ⁶ “As for these things that you see, ^(I)the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” ⁷ And they asked him, “Teacher, ^(J)when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸ And he said, ^(K)“See that you are not led astray. For ^(L)many will come in my name, saying, ^(M)‘I am he!’ and, ^(N)‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. ⁹ And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be ^(O)terrified, for these things ^(P)must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution

¹⁰ Then he said to them, ^(Q)“Nation will rise against nation, and ^(R)kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be great ^(S)earthquakes, and in various places ^(T)famines and pestilences. And there will be ^(U)terrors and great ^(V)signs from heaven. ¹² But before all this ^(W)they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to ^(X)the synagogues and ^(Y)prisons, and you ^(Z)will be brought before ^(AA)kings and ^(AB)governors for my name's sake. ^13 (AC)This will be your opportunity to bear witness. ¹⁴ Settle it therefore in your minds ^(AD)not to meditate beforehand how to answer, ¹⁵ for ^(AE)I will give you a mouth and ^(AF)wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or ^(AG)contradict. ¹⁶ You will be delivered up ^(AH)even by parents and brothers^[c] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. ^17 (AI)You will be hated by all for my name's sake. ¹⁸ But ^(AJ)not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ By your ^(AK)endurance you will gain your lives.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem

²⁰ “But ^(AL)when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that ^(AM)its desolation has come near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, ²² for these are ^(AN)days of ^(AO)vengeance, to fulfill ^(AP)all that is written. ^23 (AQ)Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and ^(AR)wrath against this people. ²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and ^(AS)be led captive among all nations, and ^(AT)Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, ^(AU)until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁵ “And ^(AV)there will be signs in sun and moon ^(AW)and stars, and on the earth ^(AX)distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For ^(AY)the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And then they will see ^(AZ)the Son of Man coming in a cloud ^(BA)with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and ^(BB)raise your heads, because ^(BC)your redemption is drawing near.”

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

²⁹ And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ As soon as they come out in leaf, you see ^(BD)for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ^32 (BE)Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. ^33 (BF)Heaven and earth will pass away, but ^(BG)my words will not pass away.

Watch Yourselves

³⁴ “But watch yourselves ^(BH)lest ^(BI)your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and ^(BJ)cares of this life, and ^(BK)that day come upon you suddenly ^(BL)like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ But ^(BM)stay awake at all times, ^(BN)praying that you may ^(BO)have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and ^(BP)to stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ And ^(BQ)every day he was teaching in the temple, but ^(BR)at night he went out and lodged on ^(BS)the mount called Olivet. ³⁸ And early in the morning ^(BT)all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.