Now 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, but 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.

And 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.

And at the evening offering, having made myself low before God, I got up, and with signs of grief, falling down on my knees, with my hands stretched out to the Lord my God,

From the days of our fathers till this day we have been great sinners and for our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been given up into the hands of the kings of the lands, to the sword and to prison and to loss of goods and to shame of face, as it is this day.

For we are servants but our God has not been turned away from us in our prison, but has had mercy on us before the eyes of the kings of Persia, to give us new strength to put up again the house of our God and to make fair its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

Which you gave to your servants the prophets, saying, The land into which you are going, to take it for a heritage, is an unclean land, because of the evil lives of the peoples of the land and their disgusting ways, which have made the land unclean from end to end.

And after everything which has come on us because of our evil-doing and our great sin, and seeing that the punishment which you, O God, have given us, is less than the measure of our sins, and that you have kept from death those of us who are here

O Lord God of Israel, righteousness is yours we are only a small band which has been kept from death, as at this day: see, we are before you in our sin for no one may keep his place before you because of this.

Now while Ezra was making his prayer and his statement of wrongdoing, weeping and falling down before the house of God, a very great number of men and women and children out of Israel came together round him: for the people were weeping bitterly.

Let us now 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 and let it be done in keeping with the law.

Then Ezra got up, and made the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do this. So they took an oath.

And they made a public statement through all Judah and Jerusalem, to all those who had come back, that they were to come together to Jerusalem

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, shaking with fear because of this business and because of the great rain.

So now, give praise to the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure and make yourselves separate from the peoples of the land and from the strange women.

But the number of people is great, and it is a time of much rain it is not possible for us to go on waiting outside, and this is not a thing which may be done in one day or even two: for our sin in this business is great.

Only Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah, the son of Tikvah, were against this, Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.

And they got to the end of all the men who were married to strange women by the first day of the first month.

And they gave their word that they would put away their wives and for their sin, they gave an offering of a male sheep of the flock.

And of the sons of Harim, Maaseiah and Elijah and Shemaiah and Jehiel and Uzziah.

And of the Levites, Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (that is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

And of Israel, the sons of Parosh, Ramiah and Izziah and Malchijah and Mijamin and Eleazar and Malchijah and Benaiah.

And of the sons of Zattu, Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth and Zabad and Aziza.

And of the sons of Bani, Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub and Sheal, Jeremoth.

And of the sons of Harim, Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

Of the sons of Hashum, Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.

Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,

Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu,

And Shelemiah and Nathan and Adaiah,

Azarel and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

Of the sons of Nebo, Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.

Now the feast of unleavened bread was near, which is called the Passover.

And Satan came into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve.

And they were glad, and undertook to give him money.

And the day of unleavened bread came, when the Passover lamb is put to death.

And they said to him, Where are we to get it ready?

And say to the master of the house, The Master says, Where is the guest-room, where I may take the Passover with my disciples?

And they went, and it was as he had said: and they made the Passover ready.

And he said, I have had a great desire to keep this Passover with you before I come to my death

And he took a cup and, having given praise, he said, Make division of this among yourselves

And he took bread and, having given praise, he gave it to them when it had been broken, saying, This is my body, which is given for you: do this in memory of me.

But the hand of him who is false to me is with me at the table.

And they were wondering among themselves which of them it was who would do this thing.

And he said, The kings of the Gentiles are lords over them, and those who have authority are given names of honour.

For which is greater, the guest who is seated at a meal or the servant who is waiting on him? is it not the guest? but I am among you as a servant.

And I will give you a kingdom as my Father has given one to me,

Simon, Simon, Satan has made a request to have you, so that he may put you to the test as grain is tested:

And he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.

And he said to them, When I sent you out without money or bag or shoes, were you in need of anything? And they said, Nothing.

For I say to you that these words will be put into effect in me, And he was numbered among the evil-doers: for what has been said in the Writings about me has an end.