God

And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He is entreated of us.

and I weigh to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, a heave-offering of the house of our God, that the king, and his counsellors, and his heads, and all Israel--those present--lifted up;

And I say unto them, `Ye are holy to Jehovah, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a willing-offering to Jehovah, God of your fathers;

watch, and keep, till ye weigh before the heads of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the fathers of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.'

And the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and of the gold, and of the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

And we journey from the river Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God hath been upon us, and He delivereth us from the hand of the enemy and the lier in wait by the way;

And on the fourth day hath been weighed the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of our God, unto the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levites:

Those coming in of the captives--sons of the removal--have brought near burnt-offerings to the God of Israel, bullocks twelve, for all Israel, rams ninety and six, lambs seventy and seven, young he-goats for a sin-offering twelve--the whole a burnt-offering to Jehovah;

and they give the laws of the king to the lieutenants of the king and the governors beyond the river, and they have lifted up the people and the house of God.

and unto me are gathered every one trembling at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of the removal, and I am sitting astonished till the present of the evening.

And at the present of the evening I have risen from mine affliction, and at my rending my garment and my upper robe, then I bow down on my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God,

and say, `O my God, I have been ashamed, and have blushed to lift up, O my God, my face unto Thee, for our iniquities have increased over the head, and our guilt hath become great unto the heavens.

`And now, as a small moment hath grace been from Jehovah our God, to leave to us an escape, and to give to us a nail in His holy place, by our God's enlightening our eyes, and by giving us a little quickening in our servitude;

for servants we are , and in our servitude our God hath not forsaken us, and stretcheth out unto us kindness before the kings of Persia, to give to us a quickening to lift up the house of our God, and to cause its wastes to cease, and to give to us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

`And now, what do we say, O our God, after this? for we have forsaken Thy commands,

that Thou hast commanded by the hands of thy servants the prophets, saying, The land into which ye are going to possess it, is a land of impurity, by the impurity of the people of the lands, by their abominations with which they have filled it--from mouth unto mouth--by their uncleanness;

`And after all that hath come upon us for our evil works, and for our great guilt (for Thou, O our God, hast kept back of the rod from our iniquities, and hast given to us an escape like this),

do we turn back to break Thy commands, and to join ourselves in marriage with the people of these abominations? art not Thou angry against us--even to consumption--till there is no remnant and escaped part?

`O Jehovah, God of Israel, righteous art Thou, for we have been left an escape, as it is this day; lo, we are before Thee in our guilt, for there is none to stand before Thee concerning this.'

And at Ezra's praying, and at his making confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there have been gathered unto him out of Israel an assembly very great--men and women and children--for the people have wept, multiplying weeping.

And Shechaniah son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answereth and saith to Ezra, `We--we have trespassed against our God, and we settle strange women of the peoples of the land; and now there is hope for Israel concerning this,

and now, let us make a covenant with our God, to cause all the women to go out, and that which is born of them, by the counsel of the Lord, and of those trembling at the command of our God, and according to law it is done;

And Ezra riseth from before the house of God, and goeth unto the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib; yea, he goeth there, bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk, for he is mourning because of the trespass of the removal.

And gathered are all the men of Judah and Benjamin to Jerusalem by the third day, it is the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sit in the broad place of the house of God, trembling on account of the matter and of the showers.

and, now, make confession to Jehovah, God of your fathers, and do His good pleasure, and be separated from the peoples of the land, and from the strange women.'