²⁷ How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?”

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.

²⁴ Who will listen when you talk like this? We share and share alike—those who go to battle and those who guard the equipment.”