7
Then Ezra stood up and said to them, "You have broken the law and married foreign women, and so have increased the sin of Israel.
8
Now then make confession and give glory to the Lord the God of our ancestors,
9
and do his will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from your foreign wives."
10
Then all the multitude shouted and said with a loud voice, "We will do as you have said.
11
But the multitude is great and it is winter, and we are not able to stand in the open air. This is not a work we can do in one day or two, for we have sinned too much in these things.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.