The Daily Audio Bible

10 While ‘Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrated before the house of God, a huge crowd of Isra’el’s men, women and children gathered around him; and the people were weeping bitterly. ² Sh’khanyah the son of Yechi’el, one of the descendants of ‘Eilam, spoke up and said to ‘Ezra, “We have acted treacherously toward our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples of the land. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Isra’el. ³ We should make a covenant with our God to send away all these wives, along with their children, in obedience to the advice of Adonai and of those who tremble at the mitzvah of our God; let us act in accordance with the Torah. ⁴ Stand up, and do your duty, for we are with you; take courage, and do it!”

⁵ ‘Ezra stood up, and he made the chief cohanim, the L’vi’im and all Isra’el swear that they would act according to what had been said; and they took the oath. ⁶ ‘Ezra then left his place in front of the house of God and went to the room of Y’hochanan the son of Elyashiv. After going there, he neither ate food nor drank water; because he was mourning over the treachery of the exiles.

⁷ A proclamation was issued throughout Y’hudah and Yerushalayim that all the exiles were to assemble in Yerushalayim; ⁸ and that whoever didn’t come within three days, in answer to the summons from the officials and leaders, would forfeit all he owned and himself be banished from the community of the exiles. ⁹ All the men of Y’hudah and Binyamin assembled in Yerushalayim within the three days. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month. All the people sat in the open place in front of the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. ¹⁰ ‘Ezra the cohen stood up and addressed them: “You have acted treacherously by marrying foreign women and have thus increased Isra’el’s guilt. ¹¹ Now, therefore, make confession to Adonai, the God of your ancestors; and do what will please him by separating yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign women.” ¹² In response, the whole assembly cried aloud, “Yes, our duty is to do as you have said. ¹³ But there are many people, and it’s the rainy season — we can’t stay out here in the open. Also, it isn’t the work of a day or two; for there are many of us who have committed this crime. ¹⁴ Let our leaders represent the whole community; and let all those in our cities who have married foreign women appear at prearranged times, accompanied by the elders and judges of each city; until our God’s fierce anger over this has been turned away from us.” ¹⁵ Only Yonatan the son of ‘Asah’el and Yachz’yah the son of Tikvah, supported by Meshulam and Shabtai the Levi, opposed this.

¹⁶ The exiles did as agreed. ‘Ezra the cohen chose heads of fathers’ clans by name, and they began their sessions to look into the matter on the first day of the tenth month. ¹⁷ They finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.

¹⁸ Among the cohanim were found these who had married foreign women: of the sons of Yeshua the son of Yotzadak and his brothers: Ma‘aseiyah, Eli‘ezer, Yariv and G’dalyah. ¹⁹ They promised that they would send their wives away; and since they were guilty, they offered a ram from the flock for their guilt. ²⁰ Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Z’vadyah; ²¹ of the sons of Harim: Ma‘aseiyah, Eliyah, Sh’ma‘yah, Yechi’el and ‘Uziyah; ²² of the sons of Pash’chur: Elyo‘einai, Ma‘aseiyah, Yishma‘el, N’tan’el, Yozavad and El‘asah.

²³ Of the L’vi’im: Yozavad, Shim‘i, K’layah (also known as K’lita), P’tachyah, Y’hudah and Eli‘ezer.

²⁴ Of the singers: Elyashiv.

Of the gatekeepers: Shalum, Telem and Uri.

²⁵ Of Isra’el: of the descendants of Par‘osh: Ramyah, Yizziyah, Malkiyah, Miyamin, El‘azar, Malkiyah and B’nayah; ²⁶ of the descendants of ‘Eilam: Mattanyah, Z’kharyah, Yechi’el, ‘Avdi, Yeremot and Eliyah; ²⁷ of the descendants of Zatu: Elyo‘einai, Elyashiv, Mattanyah, Yeremot, Zavad and ‘Aziza; ²⁸ of the descendants of B’vai: Y’hochanan, Hananyah, Zabai and ‘Atlai; ²⁹ of the descendants of Bani: Meshulam, Malukh, ‘Adayah, Yashuv, Sh’al and Ramot; ³⁰ of the descendants of Pachat-Mo’av: ‘Adna, K’lal, B’nayah, Ma‘aseiyah, Mattanyah, B’tzal’el, Binui and M’nasheh; ³¹ of the descendants of Harim: Eli‘ezer, Yishiyah, Malkiyah, Sh’ma‘yah, Shim‘on, ³² Binyamin, Malukh, and Sh’maryah; ³³ of the descendants of Hashum: Matnai, Matatah, Zavad, Elifelet, Yeremai, M’nasheh and Shim‘i; ³⁴ of the descendants of Bani: Ma‘adai, ‘Amram, U’el, ³⁵ B’nayah, Bedyah, K’luhu, ³⁶ Vanyah, M’remot, Elyashiv, ³⁷ Mattanyah, Matnai, Ya‘asai, ³⁸ Bani, Binui, Shim‘i, ³⁹ Shelemyah, Natan, ‘Adayah, ⁴⁰ Makhnavdai, Shashai, Sharai, ⁴¹ ‘Azar’el, Shelemyah, Sh’maryah, ⁴² Shalum, Amaryah and Yosef; and ⁴³ of the descendants of N’vo: Ye‘i’el, Mattityah, Zavad, Z’vina, Yadai, Yo’el and B’nayah.

⁴⁴ All these had taken foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had had children.

6 How dare one of you with a complaint against another go to court before pagan judges and not before God’s people? ² Don’t you know that God’s people are going to judge the universe? If you are going to judge the universe, are you incompetent to judge these minor matters? ³ Don’t you know that we will judge angels, not to mention affairs of everyday life? ⁴ So if you require judgments about matters of everyday life, why do you put them in front of men who have no standing in the Messianic Community? ⁵ I say, shame on you! Can it be that there isn’t one person among you wise enough to be able to settle a dispute between brothers? ⁶ Instead, a brother brings a lawsuit against another brother, and that before unbelievers!

⁷ Actually, if you are bringing lawsuits against each other, it is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸ Instead, you yourselves wrong and cheat; and you do it to your own brothers! ⁹ Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t delude yourselves — people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, ¹⁰ who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob — none of them will share in the Kingdom of God. ¹¹ Some of you used to do these things. But you have cleansed yourselves, you have been set apart for God, you have come to be counted righteous through the power of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the Spirit of our God.

¹² You say, “For me, everything is permitted”? Maybe, but not everything is helpful. “For me, everything is permitted”? Maybe, but as far as I am concerned, I am not going to let anything gain control over me. ¹³ “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”? Maybe, but God will put an end to both of them. Anyhow, the body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ God raised up the Lord, and he will raise us up too by his power.

¹⁵ Don’t you know that your bodies are parts of the Messiah? So, am I to take parts of the Messiah and make them parts of a prostitute? Heaven forbid! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that a man who joins himself to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? For the Tanakh says, “The two will become one flesh”;^{[a] 17} but the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. ¹⁸ Run from sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or don’t you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh who lives inside you, whom you received from God? The fact is, you don’t belong to yourselves; ²⁰ for you were bought at a price. So use your bodies to glorify God.