Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



They made an agreement with one another to dedicate their lives to serve the true God Jehovah, the God of their ancestors with all their heart and all their being. All people, young and old, male and female, who refused to dedicate their lives to the true God Jehovah the God of Israel were to be killed. Asa and the people swore their oath to Jehovah with shouts, singing, and the blowing of trumpets and rams' horns. read more.
All the people of Judah were overjoyed because of the oath. They took the oath wholeheartedly. They took great pleasure in looking for Jehovah. And he let them find him. So Jehovah surrounded them with rest and peace.

And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gate keepers, the music-makers, the Nethinim, and all those who made themselves separate from the peoples of the lands, to keep the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and wisdom; 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; read more.
If the peoples of the lands come to do trade in goods or food on the Sabbath day, that we would do no trade with them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. In the seventh year we would take no payment from any debtor. We made rules for ourselves, taxing ourselves a third of a shekel every year for the upkeep of the House of our God.


Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying: Come; let us have a meeting in one of the little towns in the lowland of Ono. But their purpose was to do me evil. I sent men to them saying: I am doing a great work, so that it is not possible for me to come. Should the work to be stopped while I go away from it and come to you? They sent this to me four times. I sent them the same answer.

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; If the peoples of the lands come to do trade in goods or food on the Sabbath day, that we would do no trade with them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. In the seventh year we would take no payment from any debtor.


The people replied: We would never leave Jehovah to serve other gods!

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; If the peoples of the lands come to do trade in goods or food on the Sabbath day, that we would do no trade with them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. In the seventh year we would take no payment from any debtor. read more.
We made rules for ourselves, taxing ourselves a third of a shekel every year for the upkeep of the House of our God. For the holy bread, and for the regular meal offering and the regular burned offering on the Sabbaths and at the new moon and the fixed feasts, and for the sin-offerings to take away the sin of Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. And we, the priests and the Levites and the people, made selection, by the decision of Jehovah, of those who were to take the wood offering into the house of God, by families at the regular times, year by year, to be burned on the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is recorded in the law; To take the first fruits of our land, and the first fruits of every sort of tree, year by year, into the house of Jehovah. As well as the first of our sons and of our cattle, as it is recorded in the law. The first lambs of our herds and of our flocks, which are to be taken to the house of our God, to the priests who are servants in the house of our God: That we would take the first of our rough meal, and our lifted offerings, and the fruit of every sort of tree, and wine and oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God. The tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites for the Levites, take a tenth in all the towns of our ploughed land. The priest, the son of Aaron, is to be with the Levites, when the Levites take the tenths. The Levites are to take a tenth of the tenths into the house of our God, to the rooms, into the storehouse. The children of Israel and the children of Levi are to take the lifted offering of the grain and wine and oil into the rooms where the vessels of the holy place are. This is together with the priests and the gatekeepers and the makers of music. We will not give up caring for the House of our God.


Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or do anything for their peace or well being for a very long time. That way you may be strong, living on the good of the land, and handing it on to your children for a heritage for as long as they live.

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.

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.

Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. 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.

Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.

That way we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the lands, or take their daughters for our sons;

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?

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.




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;



The children of Israel, who had come back, and all those who were joined to them, after separating themselves from the evil ways of the people of the land to become the servants of Jehovah, the God of Israel, ate together.

But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them: You have no part with us in the building of a house for our God. We will do the work for Jehovah, the God of Israel, as Cyrus, king of Persia, has given us orders.

That way we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the lands, or take their daughters for our sons;

The seed of Israel made themselves separate from all the men of other nations. They publicly requested forgiveness for their sins and the wrongdoing of their fathers.

So after hearing the law, they took out of Israel all the mixed people.