Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin came together to Jerusalem before three days were past. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people were seated in the wide square in front of the house of God. They shook with fear because of this business of this business and because of the great rain. Ezra the priest got to his feet and said to them: You have done wrong and taken strange women for your wives, thus increasing the sin of Israel. Give praise to Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the strange women.

I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples. I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair. I made them take an oath by God, saying: You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. read more.
Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? Among a number of nations there was no king like him. He was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was made to do evil by strange women. Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives?


After these things were done, the captains came to me and said: The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not kept themselves separate from the people of the lands. They have taken part in the disgusting ways of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. They have taken their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons. They have mingled the holy race with peoples around them. In fact the leaders and officials were first to do this evil. Hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled.

I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples. I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair. I made them take an oath by God, saying: You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. read more.
Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? Among a number of nations there was no king like him. He was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was made to do evil by strange women. Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives? One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, so I sent him away from me.


I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples.


Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples.


I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples. I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair. I made them take an oath by God, saying: You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. read more.
Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? Among a number of nations there was no king like him. He was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was made to do evil by strange women. Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives?

After these things were done, the captains came to me and said: The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not kept themselves separate from the people of the lands. They have taken part in the disgusting ways of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. They have taken their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons. They have mingled the holy race with peoples around them. In fact the leaders and officials were first to do this evil.

Jehovah your God will bring you into the land you are to possess. He will clear away many nations ahead of you. The nations he will clear: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. These seven nations are larger and mightier than you. Jehovah your God will deliver them to you. You must crush them! Completely destroy them. You should make no covenant with them. Do not show them mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. read more.
They will lead your young people away from me to serve other gods. So the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you and will destroy you suddenly.

Later Jehovah gave Israel security from their enemies all around. By that time Joshua was very old. He called all Israel, the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of the people, and said: I am very old now. You have seen everything Jehovah your God has done to all these nations because of you. Jehovah your God fights for you. read more.
I have assigned as the possession of your tribes the land of the nations that are still left, as well as of all the nations that I have already conquered, from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Jehovah your God will make them retreat from you. He will drive them away as you advance. You will possess their land, as Jehovah your God promised you. Be careful to obey and do everything that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Do not neglect any of it. You will not associate with these peoples left among you or speak the names of their gods or use those names in taking vows or worship those gods or bow down to them. Remain faithful to Jehovah, as you have been until now. Jehovah has driven great and powerful nations from before you. No one has ever been able to stand against you. One of you can make a thousand men run away, because Jehovah your God is fighting for you, as he promised. Take heed of yourselves to love Jehovah your God. If you are disloyal and join with the nations that are still left among you and intermarry with them,

Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answering, said to Ezra, We have done evil against our God, and have taken as our wives strange women of the peoples of the land. But still there is hope for Israel in this question. Let us make an agreement with our God to put away all the wives and all their children, if it seems right to my lord and to those who go in fear of the words of our God. Let it be done in keeping with the law.

They were united with their brothers, their rulers, and put themselves under a curse and an oath, to keep their steps in the way of God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to keep and do all the orders of the Jehovah, our Lord, and his decisions and his rules. That way we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the lands, or take their daughters for our sons;


I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples. I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair. I made them take an oath by God, saying: You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. read more.
Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? Among a number of nations there was no king like him. He was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was made to do evil by strange women. Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives?

Solomon loved many women. They were of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. Jehovah warned the children of Israel about these nations. He said: You are not to take wives from them and they are not to take wives from you. They will certainly turn your hearts to go after their gods. Solomon loved his wives anyway. He had seven hundred wives, daughters of kings, and three hundred other wives. His wives influenced his heart to turn away. read more.
When Solomon was old he allowed his heart to be turned away to other gods by his wives. His heart was no longer true to Jehovah his God as the heart of his father David had been. Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and Milcom, the disgusting god of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. He did not walk in Jehovah's ways with all his heart as David his father did. Then Solomon put up a high place for Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, in the mountain near Jerusalem. And for Molech, the disgusting god worshipped by the children of Ammon. He did likewise for all his strange wives, who made offerings with burning of perfumes to their gods.

I will force out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. You must do what I command you today. Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going. It will become a snare in your midst. Instead tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim. read more.
Do not worship any other god but Jehovah for his reputation is filled with zeal, and he is a God who demands exclusive devotion. Otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land. They would commit spiritual immorality (fornication) with their gods and sacrifice to their gods. Someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice. You might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might commit spiritual immorality (fornication) with their gods and cause your sons also to commit spiritual immorality with their gods.

Jehovah your God will bring you into the land you are to possess. He will clear away many nations ahead of you. The nations he will clear: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. These seven nations are larger and mightier than you. Jehovah your God will deliver them to you. You must crush them! Completely destroy them. You should make no covenant with them. Do not show them mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. read more.
They will lead your young people away from me to serve other gods. So the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you and will destroy you suddenly.

The people of Judah have done wrong. They deal treacherously and committed an abomination in Israel and in Jerusalem. Judah has profaned the holiness of Jehovah by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. Jehovah will remove from the community of Israel those who did this. They will never again participate in the national offerings to Jehovah of Hosts. Another thing you do is drown Jehovah's altar with tears, weeping and wailing. This is because he no longer accepts the offerings you bring him.


In those days, I saw in Judah some who were crushing grapes on the Sabbath, and harvesting grain and putting it on Asses; as well as wine and grapes and figs and all sorts of goods that they took into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I gave witness against them on the day when they were marketing food. There were men of Tyre there. They came with fish and all sorts of goods, trading with the children of Judah and in Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Then I made protests to the chiefs of Judah, and said to them: What is this evil you are doing, not keeping the Sabbath day holy? read more.
Did not your fathers do the same, and did not our God send all this evil on us and on this town? You are causing more anger to come on Israel by not keeping the Sabbath holy. When the streets of Jerusalem were getting dark before the Sabbath, I gave orders for the gate to be shut and not to be open again until after the Sabbath. I put some of my servants by the gate so that nothing might be taken in on the Sabbath day. So the traders in all sorts of goods took their night's rest outside Jerusalem once or twice. Then I gave witness against them and said: Why are you waiting all night by the wall? If you do so again I will have you taken prisoners. From that time they did not come again on the Sabbath. I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the gates and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy. I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples. I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair. I made them take an oath by God, saying: You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? Among a number of nations there was no king like him. He was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was made to do evil by strange women. Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives? One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, so I sent him away from me. Keep them in mind, O my God, because they have put shame on the priests' name and on the agreement of the priests and the Levites. I made them clean from all strange people. Regular watches were fixed for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work. And for the wood offering, at fixed times, and for the first fruits. Keep me in mind, O my God, for good.


Do not let their wrongdoing be covered or their sin be washed away from before you: for they have made you angry before the builders.

I went to Jerusalem. It was clear to me what evil Eliashib had done for Tobiah by making ready for him a room in the buildings of the house of God. It was evil in my eyes so I had all Tobiah's things removed from the room. Then I gave orders, and they made the rooms clean. I put the vessels of the House of God, along with the meal offerings and the perfume, back in the rooms.

In those days, I saw in Judah some who were crushing grapes on the Sabbath, and harvesting grain and putting it on Asses; as well as wine and grapes and figs and all sorts of goods that they took into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I gave witness against them on the day when they were marketing food. There were men of Tyre there. They came with fish and all sorts of goods, trading with the children of Judah and in Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Then I made protests to the chiefs of Judah, and said to them: What is this evil you are doing, not keeping the Sabbath day holy? read more.
Did not your fathers do the same, and did not our God send all this evil on us and on this town? You are causing more anger to come on Israel by not keeping the Sabbath holy. When the streets of Jerusalem were getting dark before the Sabbath, I gave orders for the gate to be shut and not to be open again until after the Sabbath. I put some of my servants by the gate so that nothing might be taken in on the Sabbath day. So the traders in all sorts of goods took their night's rest outside Jerusalem once or twice. Then I gave witness against them and said: Why are you waiting all night by the wall? If you do so again I will have you taken prisoners. From that time they did not come again on the Sabbath. I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the gates and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy. I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples. I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair. I made them take an oath by God, saying: You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? Among a number of nations there was no king like him. He was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was made to do evil by strange women. Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives? One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, so I sent him away from me.


Solomon loved many women. They were of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. Jehovah warned the children of Israel about these nations. He said: You are not to take wives from them and they are not to take wives from you. They will certainly turn your hearts to go after their gods. Solomon loved his wives anyway.

I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: Their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples. I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair. I made them take an oath by God, saying: You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. read more.
Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? Among a number of nations there was no king like him. He was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was made to do evil by strange women.