3
Let us make a covenant with the Lord our God, to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the will of the Lord, and of them that fear the commandment of the Lord our God: let it be done according to the law.
4
Arise, it is thy part to give orders, and we will be with thee: take courage, and do it.
5
So Esdras arose, and made the chiefs of the priests and of the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word, and they swore.
6
And Esdras rose up from before the house of God, and went to the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliasib, and entered in thither: he ate no bread, and drank no water: for he mourned for the transgression of them that were come out of the captivity.
7
And proclamation was made in Juda and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should assemble together into Jerusalem.
8
And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the ancients, all his substance should be taken away, and he should be cast out of the company of them that were returned from captivity.
9
Then all the men of Juda, and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within three days, in the ninth month, the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of the sin, and the rain.
10
And Esdras the priest stood up, and said to them: You have transgressed, and taken strange wives, to add to the sins of Israel.
11
And now make confession to the Lord the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from your strange wives.
12
And all the multitude answered and said with a loud voice: According to thy word unto us, so be it done.
13
But as the people are many, and it is time of rain, and we are not able to stand without, and it is not a work of one day or two, (for we have exceedingly sinned in this matter,)