Daily Text and Bible Reading: Friday, May 31 [Press play below]

8.1 Now these were the heads of their paternal houses and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me out of Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
8.2 of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;
8.3 of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him there was an enrollment of 150 males;
8.4 of the sons of Pahath-moab, Elieho-enai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 males;
8.5 of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 males;
8.6 of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 males;
8.7 of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 males;
8.8 of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 males;
8.9 of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 males;
8.10 of the sons of Bani, Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 males;
8.11 of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him 28 males;
8.12 of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 males;
8.13 of the sons of Adonikam, those who were the last, and these were their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 males;
8.14 and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them 70 males.
8.15 I assembled them at the river that comes to Ahava, and we camped there for three days. But when I examined the people and the priests, I did not find any of the Levites there.
8.16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were instructors.
8.17 Then I gave them a command concerning Iddo the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them to tell Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants who were in Casiphia, to bring to us ministers for the house of our God.
8.18 Since the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought a discreet man from the sons of Mahli the grandson of Levi the son of Israel, namely, Sherebiah, and his sons and his brothers, 18 men;
8.19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah from the Merarites, his brothers and their sons, 20 men.
8.20 And there were 220 of the temple servants, whom David and the princes gave to the service of the Levites, all of whom had been designated by name.
8.21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, to humble ourselves before our God, to seek guidance from him for our journey, for us and for our children and for all our goods.
8.22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemies along the way, because we had said to the king: “The good hand of our God is over all those seeking him, but his strength and his anger are against all those abandoning him.”
8.23 So we fasted and made request of our God concerning this, and he listened to our entreaty.
8.24 I now set apart 12 of the chiefs of the priests, namely, Sherebiah and Hashabiah, along with ten of their brothers.
8.25 Then I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the utensils, the contribution that the king and his advisers and his princes and all the Israelites who were present there had made to the house of our God.
8.26 Thus I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver, 100 silver utensils worth 2 talents, 100 talents of gold,
8.27 20 small gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and 2 utensils of fine copper, gleaming red, as desirable as gold.
8.28 Then I said to them: “You are holy to Jehovah, and the utensils are holy, and the silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to Jehovah the God of your forefathers.
8.29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the princes of the paternal houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.”
8.30 And the priests and the Levites took the silver and the gold and the utensils that had been weighed out to them, in order to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
8.31 Finally we pulled away from the river Ahava on the 12th day of the first month to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was over us, and he rescued us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the way.
8.32 So we came to Jerusalem and stayed there for three days.
8.33 And on the fourth day, we weighed out the silver and the gold and the utensils in the house of our God and handed them over to Meremoth son of Urijah the priest, and with him was Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.
8.34 Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was recorded.
8.35 Those coming out of the captivity, the former exiles, presented burnt sacrifices to the God of Israel, 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 male lambs, and 12 male goats as a sin offering; all of this was a burnt offering to Jehovah.
8.36 Then we gave the decrees of the king to the satraps of the king and the governors of the region Beyond the River, and they supported the people and the house of the true God.

9.1 And as soon as these things had been done, the princes approached me and said: “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands and their detestable practices, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
9.2 They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons. Now they, the holy offspring, have become mingled with the peoples of the lands. The princes and the deputy rulers have been the foremost offenders in this unfaithfulness.”
9.3 Now as soon as I heard of this, I ripped apart my garment and my sleeveless coat and pulled out some of the hair of my head and my beard, and I sat down in shock.
9.4 Then everyone who had reverence for the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiled people, while I was sitting in shock until the evening grain offering.
9.5 And at the time of the evening grain offering, I stood up from my humiliation, with my garment and my sleeveless coat torn apart, and I got down on my knees and spread out my hands to Jehovah my God.
9.6 And I said: “O my God, I feel ashamed and embarrassed to raise my face to you, O my God, for our errors have multiplied over our heads and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
9.7 From the days of our forefathers until this day our guilt has been great; and because of our errors, we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to disgrace, as is the case today.
9.8 But now for a brief moment, favor has come from Jehovah our God by letting a remnant escape and by giving us a secure position in his holy place, to make our eyes shine, O our God, and to revive us a little in our slavery.
9.9 For although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our slavery; but he has extended his loyal love toward us before the kings of Persia, to revive us so as to raise up the house of our God and to restore its ruins and to give us a stone wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
9.10 “But now what can we say, O our God, after this? For we have left your commandments,
9.11 which you gave us through your servants the prophets, saying: ‘The land that you are going in to take possession of is an impure land because of the impurity of the peoples of the lands, because of their detestable practices with which they have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness.
9.12 Therefore, do not give your daughters to their sons, neither accept their daughters for your sons; and you must never seek their peace and their prosperity, so that you may grow strong and eat the good of the land and take possession of it for your sons forever.’
9.13 And after all that has come upon us for our bad deeds and our great guilt—for you, O our God, have not dealt with us according to our error, and you have allowed those of us here to escape—
9.14 are we to break your commandments again and form marriage alliances with the peoples who practice these detestable things? Would you not become so angry with us that you would completely destroy us, leaving no remnant or survivor?
9.15 O Jehovah the God of Israel, you are righteous, for we have survived as a remnant to this day. Here we are before you in our guilt, for it is impossible to stand before you because of this.”

10.1 While Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and lying prostrate before the house of the true God, a large crowd of men, women, and children of Israel gathered around him, for the people were weeping profusely.
10.2 Then Shecaniah the son of Jehiel of the sons of Elam said to Ezra: “We have acted unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples of the land. Despite this, there is still hope for Israel.
10.3 Now let us make a covenant with our God to send away all the wives and those born from them, in harmony with the direction of Jehovah and of those who have reverence for the commandment of our God. Let us act according to the Law.
10.4 Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we are with you. Be strong and take action.”
10.5 At that Ezra rose and had the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said. So they took an oath.
10.6 Ezra now got up from before the house of the true God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Although he went there, he ate no food and drank no water, for he was in mourning because of the unfaithfulness of the exiled people.
10.7 Then they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the former exiles gather together at Jerusalem;
10.8 and according to the decision of the princes and the elders, anyone who did not come within three days’ time would have all his goods confiscated, and he would be banished from the congregation of the exiled people.
10.9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem within three days, that is, in the ninth month, on the 20th day of the month. All the people were sitting in a courtyard of the house of the true God, shivering because of the matter at hand and because of the heavy rain.
10.10 Then Ezra the priest rose and said to them: “You have acted unfaithfully by marrying foreign women, and so you have added to the guilt of Israel.
10.11 Now make confession to Jehovah the God of your forefathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from these foreign wives.”
10.12 To this the whole congregation answered with a loud voice: “It is our duty to do exactly as you say.
10.13 However, there are many people, and it is the rainy season. It is not possible to stand outside, and the matter will not take just one or two days, for we have rebelled extensively in this matter.
10.14 So, please, let our princes represent the entire congregation; and let all those in our cities who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, along with the elders and judges of each city, until we turn back the burning anger of our God from us concerning this matter.”
10.15 However, Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah objected to this, and the Levites Meshullam and Shabbethai supported them.
10.16 But the former exiles did what was agreed on; and Ezra the priest and the family heads of their paternal houses, all designated by name, convened separately on the first day of the tenth month to look into the matter;
10.17 and by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women.
10.18 And it was discovered that some of the sons of the priests had married foreign women: of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jehozadak and his brothers, Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
10.19 But they promised to send their wives away, and since they were guilty, they would offer a ram of the flock for their guilt.
10.20 Of the sons of Immer, there were Hanani and Zebadiah;
10.21 and of the sons of Harim, Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah;
10.22 and of the sons of Pashhur, Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Eleasah.
10.23 And of the Levites, there were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer;
10.24 and of the singers, Eliashib; and of the gatekeepers, Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
10.25 And of Israel, of the sons of Parosh, there were Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah;
10.26 and of the sons of Elam, Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah;
10.27 and of the sons of Zattu, Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza;
10.28 and of the sons of Bebai, Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai;
10.29 and of the sons of Bani, Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth;
10.30 and of the sons of Pahath-moab, Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh;
10.31 and of the sons of Harim, Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
10.32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah;
10.33 of the sons of Hashum, Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei;
10.34 of the sons of Bani, Maadai, Amram, Uel,
10.35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,
10.36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
10.37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu;
10.38 and of the sons of Binnui, Shimei,
10.39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,
10.40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
10.41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
10.42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph;
10.43 and of the sons of Nebo, Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
10.44 All of these had taken foreign wives, and they sent their wives away, along with their sons.