Old/New Testament
Chapter 9
Denunciation of Mixed Marriages. 1 After these matters had been concluded, the leaders approached me and said: “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separated from the neighboring peoples with their abominable practices—the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 They have taken women of these nations as wives for themselves and their sons, and as a result, they have contaminated the holy race by such unions. In this regard the leaders and the magistrates have been the major offenders.”
Ezra’s Exhortation. 3 Upon hearing this news, I tore my tunic and cloak, after which I plucked hair from my beard and my head and sat down in a complete stupor until the evening sacrifice. 4 Then all those who trembled with fear at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me, while I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 [a]However, at the time of the evening sacrifice, I arose from my stupor, with my cloak and my mantle torn, and I fell to my knees while stretching out my hands to the Lord.
6 Then I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God, because our iniquities have increased until they have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens. 7 From the time of our fathers until now our guilt has been great, and because of our iniquities we and our kings and our priests have been handed over into the power of foreign rulers and subjected to the sword, to captivity, to pillage and disgrace, as is the case today.
8 “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord, our God has shown mercy to us by allowing a remnant of us to escape and given us a stable home in his sanctuary, thereby bringing light to our eyes and granting us some relief in our bondage. 9 For we are slaves, but God has not forgotten us in our state of slavery. He has extended his faithful love to us and turned the good will of the kings of Persia toward us, while granting us new life to rebuild the house of our God, restore its ruins, and provide us with a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 “But now, our God, what can we say after all this? For we have abandoned your commandments, 11 which you gave through your servants, the prophets, when you said: ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the abominations of the people of the country and their disgusting practices that have filled it with their filth from one end to the other. 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or let their daughters marry your sons. Nor must you seek peace with them or enhance their prosperity. In this way you will grow strong, enjoy the produce of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.’
13 “After all that has befallen us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, you, O Lord, have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have allowed us to survive. 14 Shall we once again disobey your commandments and intermarry with people who engage in these loathsome practices? Would you not be enraged with us to the point that you would destroy us, leaving us with neither remnant nor survivor? 15 O Lord, God of Israel, you are righteous. We survive only as a remnant. We come here before you in our guilt. Because of this, none of us can stand in your presence.”
Chapter 10
The People’s Response. 1 While Ezra was praying and acknowledging their guilt as he wept and prostrated himself in front of the temple of God, a vast assemblage of men, women, and children gathered around him as the people wept profusely. 2 Then Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples of this land. However, in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. 3 Let us now make a covenant with our God to send away all these wives and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commandments of our God. Let it be done in accordance with the law.[b] 4 Rise up, then, for the matter is in your hands. We will support you. Therefore, have courage and take action!”
5 Then Ezra rose to his feet and put the leading priests and Levites and all Israel under oath to do what had been said. In unison they took the oath. 6 Then Ezra departed from his place before the house of God and entered the room of Jehohanan, the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night without eating food or drinking water, because he was in mourning over the betrayal by the exiles.
7 A proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all of the exiles were to assemble in Jerusalem, 8 and that those who failed to appear within three days, as specified by the officials and the elders, would forfeit their property and be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
9 All the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together in Jerusalem three days later, on the twentieth day of the ninth month. All the people sat down in the open square before the house of God, greatly distressed because of the matter at hand and because they had no shelter from the heavy rain. 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them: “You have been unfaithful in marrying foreign wives, thus adding to Israel’s guilt. 11 Now confess to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from foreign women.”
12 Then all those who had assembled replied loudly, saying in unison: “We shall do as you say. 13 However, there are many people here; it is the rainy season, and we cannot stay out in the open. Besides, this is something that cannot be resolved in one or two days, since those of us who have sinned in this regard comprise a vast number.
14 “Therefore, permit our officials to represent the entire community, and let all those in our towns who have married foreign wives present themselves at designated times, accompanied by the elders and the judges for each town, until the fierce anger of our God at what has occurred has been turned away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah, the son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai, the Levites, opposed this proposal.[c]
16 The Guilty. The exiles did as had been proposed, while Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, representing their families, each of them designated by name. They met in sessions to examine the matter, beginning with the first day of the tenth month. 17 By the first day of the first month they had passed judgment on all the men who had married foreign women.
18 Among the members of priestly families, the following were found to have married foreign women: of the sons of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, 19 who pledged to dismiss their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram from the flock for their guilt;
20 of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah; 21 of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah; 22 of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah;
23 of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also called Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer;
24 of the singers: Eliashib, and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
25 Among the Israelites: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah; 26 of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah; 27 of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza;
28 of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai; 29 of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth; 30 of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh;
31 of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah; 33 of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei; 34 of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel 35 Benaiah, Bedaiah, Cheluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu; 38 of the sons of Binnui: Shimei, 39 Shelemiah, Nathan, and Adaiah; 40 of the sons of Zachai: Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph; 43 of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, Benaiah.
44 All these had married foreign woman but sent them away with their children.
At Jerusalem[a]
From Jesus to the Community of the Lord[b]
Chapter 1
Prologue.[c] 1 In my previous book, Theophilus,[d] I wrote of everything that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day he was taken up, after first giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
The Promise of the Spirit.[e] 3 After his passion Jesus had presented himself alive to them by many proofs. He appeared to them during forty days and spoke to them about the kingdom of God. 4 When they were gathered together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, saying, “Wait there for the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak. 5 For John baptized with water, but within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 As they were all gathered together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the dates or the times that the Father has designated by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to the farthest ends of the earth.”
The Ascension of Jesus.[f] 9 After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. 10 While he was departing as they gazed upward toward the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white robes stood beside them, 11 and they said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
12 The First Community Waiting for the Spirit. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, no farther distant than a Sabbath day’s journey.[g] 13 When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All of these were constantly engaged in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.[h]
15 The Choice of Judas’s Successor.[i] In those days, Peter stood up before the assembled brothers, numbering about one hundred and twenty, and said, 16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit revealed through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and was granted a share in this ministry.
18 “With the money from his traitorous act, this man purchased a plot of land upon which he fell headlong, and he burst open, all of his entrails pouring out. 19 The news about this became known to all the people living in Jerusalem, so that in their own language that plot of land was called ‘Hakeldama,’ which means ‘Field of Blood.’[j] 20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
‘May his encampment become deserted,
and may there be no one to dwell in it.’
And again,
‘Let another take over his position.’
21 “Therefore, it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us during the entire time that the Lord Jesus lived with us, 22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day when he was taken up from us. For he must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23 And so they nominated two candidates: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, saying, “Lord, you know the hearts of everyone. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this apostolic ministry that Judas abandoned to go to his own place.” 26 Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias, who was then added to the eleven apostles.
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