Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very sore.
And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.
Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of {Or, the Lord}my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee: be of good courage, and do it.
Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they sware.
Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he mourned because of the trespass of them of the captivity.
And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;
and that whosoever came not within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be {Hebrew: devoted}forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.
Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within the three days (it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month); and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for {Hebrew: the rains.}the great rain.
And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.
Now therefore {Or, give thanks}make confession unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.
Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, {Or, As thou hast said, so it behooved us to do}As thou hast said concerning us, so must we do.
But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.
Let now our princes {Hebrew: stand.}be appointed for all the assembly, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, {Or, as touching this matter}until this matter be despatched.
Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah {Or, were appointed over this}stood up against this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.
And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers' houses, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
And they made an end with all the men that had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.
And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married foreign women: namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.
And they gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.
And of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.
And of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.
And of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
And of the singers: Eliashib. And of the porters: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.
And of Israel: Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.
And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.
And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.
And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.
And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, {Another reading is, and Ramoth.}Jeremoth.
And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.
And of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.
Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel,
Benaiah, Bedeiah, {Another reading is, Cheluhu.}Cheluhi,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Mattaniah, Mattenai, and {Another reading is, Jaasai.}Jaasu,
and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,
and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,
Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,
Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.
Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, {}Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.
All these had taken foreign wives; and {Or, some of the wives had borne children.}some of them had wives by whom they had children.
Querverweise zu Esra 10,1 Esra 10,1
And I set my face unto the Lord God, {Or, to seek after prayer &c.}to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary unto me,
Streams of water run down mine eyes,Because they observe not thy law.
And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place; and when thou hearest, forgive.
Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and thy sojourner that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Jehovah your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;
And it came to pass, when the angel of Jehovah spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments,
I also walked contrary unto them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity;
{[chapter 8:23. in Hebrew]} {Or, Oh that I were in the wilderness, in &c.}Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! {[chapter 9:1. in Hebrew]}
And Jehovah said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
And they called the name of that place {That is, Weepers}Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto Jehovah.
And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Jehovah my God for the holy mountain of my God;
I acknowledged my sin unto thee,And mine iniquity did I not hide:I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah;And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. [Selah
But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock is taken captive.
If evil come upon us, {Or, the sword of judgement}the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before thee, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, and thou wilt hear and save.
And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all they that had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one that had knowledge, and understanding;
And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto Jehovah your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
And Cornelius said, Four days ago, until this hour, I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright apparel,
Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and {Or, receive us graciously}accept that which is good: so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto {According to some Massoretic text., him.}me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
gather the people, sanctify the assembly, assemble the {Or, elders}old men, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Jehovah, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should {Or, use a byward against them}rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?
Then was Jehovah jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it,
And when it came to pass that we had accomplished the days, we departed and went on our journey; and they all, with wives and children, brought us on our way till we were out of the city: and kneeling down on the beach, we prayed, and bade each other farewell;
that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.