³ Do not intermarry with them.^(A) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

¹⁶ And when you choose some of their daughters as wives^(A) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,^(B) they will lead your sons to do the same.

Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage

9 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate^(A) from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites,^(B) Ammonites,^(C) Moabites,^(D) Egyptians and Amorites.^{(E) 2} They have taken some of their daughters^(F) as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled^(G) the holy race^(H) with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”^(I)

³ When I heard this, I tore^(J) my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled.^(K)

¹⁰ Then Ezra^(A) the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.^{(B) 11} Now honor^[a] the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”^(C)

¹² The whole assembly responded with a loud voice:^(D) “You are right! We must do as you say.