Ezra 10:13

13 But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for many of us have transgressed in this matter.

Ezra 10:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 10:13

But the people are many
Who have been guilty of this evil:

and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without:
in the street, because of the rain:

neither is this a work of one day or two;
to inquire into this affair, who they are that have taken strange wives, and to persuade or oblige them to put them away:

for we are many that have transgressed in this thing;
in marrying strange wives.

Ezra 10:13 In-Context

11 Now make confession to the Lord the God of your ancestors, and do his will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives."

12 Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, "It is so; we must do as you have said.

13 But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for many of us have transgressed in this matter.

14 Let our officials represent the whole assembly, and let all in our towns who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every town, until the fierce wrath of our God on this account is averted from us."

15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levites supported them.