Ezra 10:11

11 Now make your confession to God, the God of your ancestors, and do what he wants you to do: Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives."

Ezra 10:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 10:11

Now therefore make confession to the Lord God of your fathers,
&c.] Of their sin, and express their detestation of it, and repentance for it:

and do his pleasure;
obey his will, and particularly in this case:

and separate yourselves from the people of the land;
the Canaanites, &c. have no fellowship with them, make no covenants, contracts, and alliances with them for the future;

and from the strange wives;
they had taken; put them away.

Ezra 10:11 In-Context

9 All the men of Judah and Benjamin met in Jerusalem within the three days. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month. They all sat down in the plaza in front of The Temple of God. Because of the business before them, and aggravated by the buckets of rain coming down on them, they were restless, uneasy, and anxious.

10 Ezra the priest stood up and spoke: "You've broken trust. You've married foreign wives. You've piled guilt on Israel.

11 Now make your confession to God, the God of your ancestors, and do what he wants you to do: Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives."

12 The whole congregation responded with a shout, "Yes, we'll do it - just the way you said it!"

13 They also said, "But look, do you see how many people there are out here? And it's the rainy season; you can't expect us to stand out here soaking wet until this is done - why, it will take days! A lot of us are deeply involved in this transgression.