Old/New Testament

The Unfaithfulness of the Exiles

9 Now when these things had been completed, the princes approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not ^(A)separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, ^(B)according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites. ² For ^(C)they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that ^(D)the holy seed has ^(E)intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the officials have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.” ³ When I heard about this matter, I ^(F)tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and ^(G)sat down in consternation. ⁴ Then ^(H)everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until ^(I)the evening offering.

Ezra’s Confession

⁵ But at the evening offering I arose from my ^[a]affliction, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and ^(J)stretched out my ^[b]hands to Yahweh my God; ⁶ and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have multiplied above our heads and our ^(K)guilt has become great even to the heavens. ^7 (L)Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder and to ^[c](M)open shame, as it is this day. ⁸ But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, ^(N)to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a ^(O)peg in His holy place, that our God may ^(P)enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our slavery. ^9 (Q)For we are slaves; yet in our slavery our God has not forsaken us, but ^(R)has extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “So now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, ¹¹ which You have commanded by the hand of Your slaves the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an impure land with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and ^(S)with their uncleanness. ¹² So now do not ^(T)give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and ^(U)never seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and ^(V)leave it as a possession to your sons forever.’ ¹³ After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and ^(W)our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us ^(X)an escaped remnant as this, ^14 (Y)shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples ^[d]who commit these abominations? ^(Z)Would You not be angry with us ^[e]to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? ¹⁵ O Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^(AA)You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in ^(AB)our guilt, for ^(AC)no one can stand before You because of this.”

Ezra Makes Israel Swear an Oath

10 Now ^(AD)while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself ^(AE)before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept bitterly. ² And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, “^(AF)We have been unfaithful to our God and have ^[f]married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. ³ So now ^(AG)let us cut a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and ^[g](AH)their children, according to the counsel of ^[h]my lord and of ^(AI)those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done ^(AJ)according to the law. ⁴ Arise! For this matter is ^[i]your responsibility, but we will be with you; ^(AK)be strong and act.”

⁵ Then Ezra arose and ^(AL)made the leading priests, the Levites and all Israel, swear an oath that they would do according to this word; so they swore an oath. ⁶ Then Ezra ^(AM)arose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. He went there, but ^(AN)he did not eat bread nor drink water, for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. ⁷ And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they should gather at Jerusalem, ⁸ and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the prince and the elders, all his possessions should be devoted to destruction and he himself separated from the assembly of the exiles.

⁹ So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, ^(AO)trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain. ¹⁰ Then Ezra the priest arose and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. ¹¹ So now, ^(AP)make confession to Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and ^(AQ)do His will; and ^(AR)separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” ¹² Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, “This is so! As you have said, so it is ^[j]our duty to do. ¹³ But there are many people; it is the rainy season, and we are not able to stand outside. Nor can the task be done in one or two days, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter. ¹⁴ Let our princes stand in for the whole assembly, and let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at set times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the ^(AS)burning anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.” ¹⁵ However, Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood against this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helping them.

¹⁶ But the exiles did so. And ^[k]Ezra the priest separated out men who were heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they ^[l]convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter. ¹⁷ And they completed investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.

Those Who Married Foreign Wives

¹⁸ Among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of ^(AT)Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. ¹⁹ They gave their hand in pledge to put away their wives, and being guilty, ^(AU)they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

⁴⁴ All these had taken up ^(AZ)foreign women as wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 The first account, O ^(A)Theophilus, I ^[a]composed, about all that Jesus ^(B)began to do and teach, ² until the day when He ^(C)was taken up to heaven, after He ^(D)had ^[b]by the Holy Spirit given orders to ^(E)the apostles whom He had ^(F)chosen, ³ to whom ^(G)He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over forty days and speaking about ^(H)the things concerning the kingdom of God. ⁴ And ^[c]gathering them together, He commanded them ^(I)not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the ^(J)promise of the Father, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; ⁵ for ^[d](K)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized ^[e]with the Holy Spirit ^[f](L)not many days from now.”

⁶ So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, ^(M)is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ But He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which ^(N)the Father has set by His own authority; ⁸ but you will receive power ^(O)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be ^(P)My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and ^(Q)Samaria, and even to ^[g](R)the end of the earth.”

The Ascension

⁹ And after He had said these things, ^(S)He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And as they were gazing intently into ^[h]the sky while He was going, behold, ^(T)two men in white clothing stood beside them. ¹¹ They also said, “^(U)Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who ^(V)has been taken up from you into heaven, will ^(W)come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

¹² Then they ^(X)returned to Jerusalem from the ^[i](Y)mount called ^[j]Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a ^[k]Sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³ And when they had entered the city, they went up to ^(Z)the upper room where they were staying; ^(AA)that is, Peter and John and ^[l]James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and ^(AB)Judas the ^[m]son of James. ¹⁴ These all with one accord ^(AC)were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with ^(AD)the women, and Mary the ^(AE)mother of Jesus, and His ^(AF)brothers.

¹⁵ And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of ^(AG)the brothers (a crowd of about 120 ^[n]persons was there together), and said, ¹⁶ “Men, brothers, ^(AH)the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^(AI)who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷ For he was ^(AJ)counted among us and received his share in ^(AK)this ministry.” ¹⁸ (Now this man ^(AL)acquired a field with ^(AM)the price of his unrighteousness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. ¹⁹ And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in ^(AN)their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰ “For it is written in the book of Psalms,

and,

²¹ Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that ^(AQ)the Lord Jesus went in and out ^[p]among us— ^22 (AR)beginning ^[q]with the baptism of John until the day that He ^(AS)was taken up from us—one of these must become a ^(AT)witness with us of His resurrection.” ²³ And they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and ^(AU)Matthias. ²⁴ And they ^(AV)prayed and said, “You, Lord, ^(AW)who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen ²⁵ to take the place of ^(AX)this ministry and ^(AY)apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” ²⁶ And they ^[r](AZ)cast lots for them, and the lot fell ^[s]to ^(BA)Matthias; and he was ^[t]added to ^(BB)the eleven apostles.