91 Now when these things had been completed , the princes approached me, saying , "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands , according to their abominations , those of the Canaanites , the Hittites , the Perizzites , the Jebusites , the Ammonites , the Moabites , the Egyptians and the Amorites . 2 "For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons , so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands ; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness ." 3 When I heard about this matter , I tore my garment and my robe , and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard , and sat down appalled . 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering .
5 But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation , even with my garment and my robe torn , and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God ; 6 and I said , "O my God , I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God , for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens . 7 " Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt , and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands , to the sword , to captivity and to plunder and to open shame , as it is this day . 8 "But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God , to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place , that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage . 9 " For we are slaves ; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia , to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God , to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem . 10 "Now , our God , what shall we say after this ? For we have forsaken Your commandments , 11 which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets , saying , 'The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands , with their abominations which have filled it from end to end and with their impurity . 12 'So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons , and never seek their peace or their prosperity , that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever e .' 13 "After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt , since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this , 14 shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations ? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction , until there is no remnant nor any who escape ? 15 "O Lord God of Israel , You are righteous , for we have been left an escaped remnant , as it is this day ; behold , we are before You in our guilt , for no one can stand before You because of this ."
101 Now while Ezra was praying and making confession , weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God , a very large assembly , men , women and children , gathered to him from Israel ; for the people wept bitterly e . 2 Shecaniah the son of Jehiel , one of the sons of Elam , said to Ezra , " We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land ; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this . 3 "So now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children , according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God ; and let it be done according to the law . 4 "Arise ! For this matter is your responsibility , but we will be with you; be courageous and act ." 5 Then Ezra rose and made the leading priests , the Levites and all Israel , take oath that they would do according to this proposal ; so they took the oath .
6 Then Ezra rose from before e the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib . Although he went there , he did not eat bread nor drink water , for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles . 7 They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles e , that they should assemble at Jerusalem , 8 and that whoever e would not come within three days , according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders , all his possessions should be forfeited and he himself excluded from the assembly of the exiles . 9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days . It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month , and all the people sat in the open square before the house of God , trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain . 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel . 11 "Now therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and do His will ; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives ." 12 Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice , "That's right ! As you have said , so it is our duty to do . 13 "But there are many people ; it is the rainy season and we are not able to stand in the open . Nor can the task be done in one or two days , for we have transgressed greatly in this matter . 14 "Let our leaders represent the whole assembly and let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times , together with the elders and judges of each city , until the fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us."
15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this , with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them. 16 But the exiles e did so . And Ezra the priest selected men who were heads of fathers' households for each of their father's households , all of them by name . So they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter . 17 They finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month . 18 Among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak , and his brothers : Maaseiah , Eliezer , Jarib and Gedaliah . 19 They pledged e to put away their wives , and being guilty , they offered a ram of the flock for their offense . 20 Of the sons of Immer there were Hanani and Zebadiah ; 21 and of the sons of Harim : Maaseiah , Elijah , Shemaiah , Jehiel and Uzziah ; 22 and of the sons of Pashhur : Elioenai , Maaseiah , Ishmael , Nethanel , Jozabad and Elasah . 23 Of Levites there were Jozabad , Shimei , Kelaiah (that is, Kelita ), Pethahiah , Judah and Eliezer . 24 Of the singers there was Eliashib ; and of the gatekeepers : Shallum , Telem and Uri . 25 Of Israel , of the sons of Parosh there were Ramiah , Izziah , Malchijah , Mijamin , Eleazar , Malchijah and Benaiah ; 26 and of the sons of Elam : Mattaniah , Zechariah , Jehiel , Abdi , Jeremoth and Elijah ; 27 and of the sons of Zattu : Elioenai , Eliashib , Mattaniah , Jeremoth , Zabad and Aziza ; 28 and of the sons of Bebai : Jehohanan , Hananiah , Zabbai and Athlai ; 29 and of the sons of Bani : Meshullam , Malluch and Adaiah , Jashub , Sheal and Jeremoth ; 30 and of the sons of Pahath-moab : Adna , Chelal , Benaiah , Maaseiah , Mattaniah , Bezalel , Binnui and Manasseh ; 31 and 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 , Bedeiah , Cheluhi , 36 Vaniah , Meremoth , Eliashib , 37 Mattaniah , Mattenai , Jaasu , 38 Bani , Binnui , Shimei , 39 Shelemiah , Nathan , Adaiah , 40 Machnadebai , Shashai , Sharai , 41 Azarel , Shelemiah , Shemariah , 42 Shallum , Amariah and Joseph . 43 Of the sons of Nebo there were Jeiel , Mattithiah , Zabad , Zebina , Jaddai , Joel and Benaiah . 44 All these had married foreign wives , and some of them had wives by whom they had children .
11 The first account I [1]composed , Theophilus , about all that Jesus began to do and teach , 2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had [2]by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen . 3 To [3]these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering , by many convincing proofs , appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God . 4 [4]Gathering them together , He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem , but to wait for [5] what the Father had promised , "Which ," He said, "you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water , but you will be baptized [6]with the Holy Spirit [7] not many days from now e ."
6 So when they had come together , they were asking Him, saying , "Lord , is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel ?" 7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority ; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem , and in all Judea and Samaria , and even to the remotest part of the earth ." 9 And after He had said these things , He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight . 10 And as they were gazing intently into [8]the sky while He was going , behold , two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said , " Men of Galilee , why do you stand looking into [9]the sky ? This Jesus , who has been taken up from you into heaven , will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven ."
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the [10] mount called [11]Olivet , which is near Jerusalem , a [12]Sabbath day's journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying ; that is, Peter and John and [13]James and Andrew , Philip and Thomas , Bartholomew and Matthew , [13]James the son of Alphaeus , and Simon the Zealot , and Judas the [15]son of [13]James . 14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer , along with the women , and Mary the mother of Jesus , and with His brothers .
15 [17]At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty [18]persons was there together e e ), and said , 16 "Brethren e , the Scripture had to be fulfilled , which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas , who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus . 17 "For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry ." 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness , and falling headlong , he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem ; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama , that is, Field of Blood .) 20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms , ' LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE , AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT'; and, ' LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS [19]OFFICE .' 21 "Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out [20]among us- 22 beginning [21]with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us-one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection ." 23 So they put forward two men , Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus ), and Matthias . 24 And they prayed and said , "You, Lord , who know the hearts of all men , show which one of these two You have chosen 25 to [22]occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place ." 26 And they [23] drew lots for them, and the lot fell [24]to Matthias ; and he was [25]added to the eleven apostles .
