kjv Ezra:10:1-17 SEEK
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Now when Ezra had prayed ,
and when he had confessed ,
weeping and casting himself down before the house of God ,
there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children :
for the people wept very sore .
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And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel ,
one of the sons of Elam ,
answered and said unto Ezra ,
We have trespassed against our God ,
and have taken strange wives of the people of the land :
yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing .
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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 my lord ,
and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God ;
and let it be done according to the law .
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Arise ;
for this matter belongeth unto thee :
we also will be with thee :
be of good courage ,
and do it .
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Then arose Ezra ,
and made the chief priests ,
the Levites ,
and all Israel ,
to swear that they should do according to this word .
And they sware .
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Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God ,
and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib :
and when he came thither ,
he did eat no bread ,
nor drink water :
for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away .
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And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity ,
that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem ;
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And that whosoever would not come within three days ,
according to the counsel of the princes and the elders ,
all his substance should be forfeited ,
and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away .
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Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days .
It was the ninth month ,
on the twentieth day of the month ;
and all the people sat in the street of the house of God ,
trembling because of this matter ,
and for the great rain .
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And Ezra the priest stood up ,
and said unto them ,
Ye have transgressed ,
and have taken strange wives ,
to increase the trespass of Israel .
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Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers ,
and do his pleasure :
and separate yourselves from the people of the land ,
and from the strange wives .
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Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice ,
As thou hast said ,
so must we do .
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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 are many that have transgressed in this thing .
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Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand ,
and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times ,
and with them the elders of every city ,
and the judges thereof ,
until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us .
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Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter :
and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them .
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And the children of the captivity did so .
And Ezra the priest ,
with certain chief of the fathers ,
after the house of their fathers ,
and all of them by their names ,
were separated ,
and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter .
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And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month .