The People Confess Their Sin

10 While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him. ² Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, a descendant of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God, for we have married these pagan women of the land. But in spite of this there is hope for Israel. ³ Let us now make a covenant with our God to divorce our pagan wives and to send them away with their children. We will follow the advice given by you and by the others who respect the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law of God. ⁴ Get up, for it is your duty to tell us how to proceed in setting things straight. We are behind you, so be strong and take action.”

⁵ So Ezra stood up and demanded that the leaders of the priests and the Levites and all the people of Israel swear that they would do as Shecaniah had said. And they all swore a solemn oath. ⁶ Then Ezra left the front of the Temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. He spent the night^[a] there without eating or drinking anything. He was still in mourning because of the unfaithfulness of the returned exiles.

⁷ Then a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should come to Jerusalem. ⁸ Those who failed to come within three days would, if the leaders and elders so decided, forfeit all their property and be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.

⁹ Within three days, all the people of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. This took place on December 19,^[b] and all the people were sitting in the square before the Temple of God. They were trembling both because of the seriousness of the matter and because it was raining. ¹⁰ Then Ezra the priest stood and said to them: “You have committed a terrible sin. By marrying pagan women, you have increased Israel’s guilt. ¹¹ So now confess your sin to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do what he demands. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from these pagan women.”

¹² Then the whole assembly raised their voices and answered, “Yes, you are right; we must do as you say!” ¹³ Then they added, “This isn’t something that can be done in a day or two, for many of us are involved in this extremely sinful affair. And this is the rainy season, so we cannot stay out here much longer. ¹⁴ Let our leaders act on behalf of us all. Let everyone who has a pagan wife come at a scheduled time, accompanied by the leaders and judges of his city, so that the fierce anger of our God concerning this affair may be turned away from us.”

¹⁵ Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah opposed this course of action, and they were supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite.

¹⁶ So this was the plan they followed. Ezra selected leaders to represent their families, designating each of the representatives by name. On December 29,^[c] the leaders sat down to investigate the matter. ¹⁷ By March 27, the first day of the new year,^[d] they had finished dealing with all the men who had married pagan wives.