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.

^24 (A)“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, ^(B)for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, ²⁵ and the ^(C)land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land ^(D)vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But ^(E)you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the ^(F)native or the stranger who sojourns among you ²⁷ (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), ²⁸ lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. ²⁹ For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. ^30 (G)So keep my charge never to practice ^(H)any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: ^(I)I am the Lord your God.”

^2 (A)And the Israelites^[a] separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

¹⁷ But if you call yourself a Jew and ^(A)rely on the law and boast in God ¹⁸ and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; ¹⁹ and if you are sure that you yourself are ^(B)a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law ^(C)the embodiment of ^(D)knowledge and truth— ^21 (E)you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you ^(F)rob temples? ²³ You who ^(G)boast in the law ^(H)dishonor God by breaking the law. ²⁴ For, ^(I)as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed ^(J)among the Gentiles because of you.”

²⁵ For circumcision indeed is of value ^(K)if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

³⁰ take care ^(A)that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ ^31 (B)You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every ^(C)abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for ^(D)they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? ^(A)Is it not in your going with us, ^(B)so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

The Temple of the Living God

^14 (A)Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For ^(B)what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or ^(C)what fellowship has light with darkness? ^15 (D)What accord has Christ with Belial?^[a] Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For ^(E)we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

Jeremiah Spared from Death

^16 (A)Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ^(B)“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

¹⁰ When ^(A)the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the ^(B)entry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord.