^37 (A)My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell,

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.

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ^(A)“I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.^{[a] (B)}If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

² And Abraham said to his servant, ^(A)the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, ^(B)“Put your hand under my thigh, ³ that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that ^(C)you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, ^4 (D)but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵ The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” ⁶ Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, ^(E)who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ^(F)‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ ^(G)he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then ^(H)you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant ^(I)put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

² the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.