4
Arise, for this matter is incumbent on thee, and we will be with thee: be of good courage, and do [it].
5
Then Ezra arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, of the Levites, and of all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. And they swore.
6
And Ezra arose from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came thither, he ate no bread and drank no water; for he mourned because of the unfaithfulness of them that had been carried away.
7
And they made proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;
8
and that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be confiscated, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.
9
Then were all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the open space of the house of God, trembling because of the matter, and because of the pouring rain.
10
And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, Ye have acted unfaithfully, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.
11
And now make confession to Jehovah the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign wives.
12
And the whole congregation answered and said with a loud voice, Yes, it is for us to do according to thy words.
13
But the people are many, and it is a time of pouring rain, and it is not possible to stand without: neither is this a work for one day or two; for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.
14
Let now our princes, while this matter is going on, stand for all the congregation, and let all those that have taken foreign wives in our cities come at the appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce anger of our God be turned from us.