² Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners.^(A) They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.^(B)

³ When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.^(A)

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.”^(A)

³⁰ So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign,^(A) and assigned them duties, each to his own task.

The Seventy “Sevens”

²⁰ While I was speaking and praying, confessing^(A) my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill^(B)—

³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,^(A) and in sackcloth and ashes.^(B)

⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:^(C)

² They have taken some of their daughters^(A) as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled^(B) the holy race^(C) with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”^(D)