¹Now while Ezra prayed and made confession , weeping and casting himself down before God’s house , there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children ; for the people wept very bitterly .

²Shecaniah the son of Jehiel , one of the sons of Elam , answered Ezra , “We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land. Yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing .

³Now therefore let ’s make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and those who are born of them , according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law .

⁴Arise , for the matter belongs to you and we are with you . Be courageous , and do it .”

⁵Then Ezra arose , and made the chiefs of the priests , the Levites , and all Israel to swear that they would do according to this word . So they swore .

⁶Then Ezra rose up from before God ’s house , and went into the room of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. When he came there , he didn’t eat bread or drink water , for he mourned because of the trespass of the exiles .

⁷They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity , that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem ;

⁸and that whoever didn’t come within three days , according to the counsel of the princes and the elders , all his possessions should be forfeited , and he himself separated from the assembly of the captivity .

⁹Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within the three days . It was the ninth month , on the twentieth day of the month ; and all the people sat in the wide place in front of God’s house , trembling because of this matter , and because of the great rain .

¹⁰Ezra the priest stood up and said to them , “You have trespassed , and have married foreign women, increasing the guilt of Israel .

¹¹Now therefore make confession to the LORD , the God of your fathers and do his pleasure . Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign women.”

¹²Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice , “We must do as you have said concerning us .

¹³But the people are many , and it is a time of much rain , and we are not able to stand outside . This is not a work of one day or two , for we have greatly transgressed in this matter .

¹⁴Now let our princes be appointed for all the assembly , and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times , and with them the elders of every city and its judges , until the fierce wrath of our God is turned from us , until this matter is resolved.”

¹⁵Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this ; and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them .

¹⁶The children of the captivity did so . Ezra the priest , with certain heads of fathers’ households , after their fathers’ houses , and all of them by their names , were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter .

¹⁷They finished with all the men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month .

¹⁸Amongst the sons of the priests there were found who had married foreign women:

of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

¹⁹They gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

²⁰Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

²¹Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.

²²Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also called Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴Of the singers: Eliashib.

Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

²⁵Of Israel: Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah.

²⁶Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.

²⁷Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.

²⁸Of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.

²⁹Of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.

³⁰Of the sons of Pahathmoab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.

³¹Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

³²Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.

³³Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.

³⁴Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,

³⁵Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,

³⁶Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

³⁷Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu,

³⁸Bani, Binnui, Shimei,

³⁹Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,

⁴⁰Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

⁴¹Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,

⁴²Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.

⁴³Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, Joel, and Benaiah.

⁴⁴All these had taken foreign wives. Some of them had wives by whom they had children .