Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may let me pass over till I come into Judah;

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which pertains to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the temple that I shall enter into. And the king so granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a spoil in a land of captivity:

And found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his descendants, and have performed your words; for you are righteous:

Moreover you led them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way in which they should go.

And gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.

Yet many years did you bear with them, and testified against them by your spirit in your prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore you gave them into the hand of the people of the lands.

They joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;

And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons:

And the heads of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch corresponding with watch.

And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where previously they stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers; and the offerings of the priests.

And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field.

And I contended with them, and pronounced them cursed, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, You shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.