The Daily Audio Bible
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10 Therefore while Ezra prayed so, and besought God, and wept, and lay (down) before the temple of God, a full great company of Israel (a very great crowd of Israelites), of men, and of women, and of children, was gathered together to him; and the people wept with much weeping.
2 And Shechaniah, the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered, and said to Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have wedded wives, alien women, of the peoples of the land. And now, for penance is in Israel on this thing, (And Shechaniah, the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered, and said to Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have wedded wives, foreign women, of the peoples of the land. And now, for there is penance in Israel for this thing,)
3 make we (a) bond of peace with the Lord our God, and cast we away all our alien wives, and them that be born of those wives, by the will of the Lord; and of them that dread the commandment of our God, be it done by the law. (let us make a covenant with the Lord our God to cast away, that is, to send away, all our foreign wives, and those who were born of those wives, according to thy counsel, my lord, and the counsel of those who fear the command of our God/who revere the command of our God; yea, let it be done according to the Law.)
4 Rise thou up, it pertaineth to thee to deem, and we shall be with thee; be thou comforted, and do thus. (Rise thou up, it pertaineth to thee to judge this, and we shall be with thee; be thou strengthened, and do thus.)
5 Then Ezra rose up, and charged greatly the princes of (the) priests, and deacons, and all Israel, to do after this word; and they swore thereto. (Then Ezra rose up, and greatly charged the leaders of the priests, and the Levites, and all the Israelites, to do this thing; and they swore that they would do it.)
6 And Ezra rose up before the house of God, and he went to the bed [place] of Johanan, the son of Eliashib, and he entered [in] thither; he ate not bread, nor drank water; for he bewailed the trespassing of them, that were come from the captivity.
7 And a voice of them was sent into Judah and Jerusalem (And so the word was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem), to all the sons of (the) captivity, that they should be gathered together in Jerusalem;
8 and [that] each man that cometh not thither (with)in three days, by the counsel of the princes and of [the] elder men, all his chattel shall be taken away from him, and he shall be cast away from the company of (the) transmigration (and he shall be cast out, or sent away, from those who have returned from the captivity).
9 Therefore all the men of Judah and of Benjamin came together into Jerusalem in three days; that is the ninth month, in the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of God’s house, and trembled for (the) sin, and for (the) rain. (And so all the men of Judah and of Benjamin came together in Jerusalem within the three days; that was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the square of God’s House, that is, in the Temple Square, and trembled because of the sin, and because of the rain.)
10 And Ezra, the priest, rose up, and said to them, Ye have trespassed, and ye have wedded wives, alien women, that ye should lay to, or increase, upon the trespass of Israel. (And Ezra, the priest, rose up, and said to them, Ye have trespassed, and ye have wedded wives, foreign women, and so ye have increased Israel’s trespass, or sin.)
11 Now therefore give ye acknowledging to the Lord God of our fathers, and do ye his pleasance, and be ye separated from the peoples of the land, and from your alien wives. (And so now make ye a confession to the Lord God of our fathers, and do ye his pleasure, or his will, and be ye separated from the peoples of the land, and from all your foreign wives.)
12 And all the multitude answered, and said with [a] great voice, By thy word to us, so be it done.
13 Nevertheless for the people is much, and the time of rain is, and we suffer not to stand withoutforth, and it is not [the] work of one day, neither of twain; for we have sinned greatly in this word; (But for the people be many, and it is the time of much rain, and we be not able to stand here outside, and this is not the work of one day, nor of two; for we have greatly sinned in this thing;)
14 (let) princes be ordained in all the multitude, and (let) all men in our cities, that have wedded alien wives, come in times ordained, and with them come the elder men, by city and city, and the judges of the people, till the wrath of our God be turned away from us upon this sin. (let the leaders come to all the multitude, and let all the men in our cities, who have wedded foreign wives, come in the time ordained, and the elders come with them, by city and city, and the judges of the people, until the anger of our God be turned away from us for this sin.)
15 Therefore Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah, the son of Tikvah, stood upon this thing; and Meshullam, and Shabbethai, deacons, helped them. (And so only Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah, the son of Tikvah, stood against this; and Meshullam, and Shabbethai, a Levite, supported them.)
16 And the sons of (the) transmigration did so. And Ezra, the priest, and the men, that were princes of families, went into the houses of their fathers, and all men by their names; and they sat in the first day of the tenth month, for to inquire (of) the thing. (And so the sons of the captivity did this. And Ezra, the priest, selected the men, from those who were the leaders of the families of their tribes, all of them by their names; and they began on the first day of the tenth month, to inquire into the matter.)
17 And all men were ended, that is, the causes of all men were determined, that had wedded alien wives, till to the first day of the first month. (And they finished their inquiry, concerning all the men who had wedded foreign wives, by the first day of the first month of the new year.)
18 And there were found of the sons of priests, that had wedded alien wives; of the sons of Joshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. (And there were found of the sons of the priests, who had wedded foreign wives; of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his kinsmen, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.)
19 And they gave their hands, that is, (they) confirmed with a solemn oath, that they should cast out their wives, and that they should offer for their trespass a ram of [the] sheep. (And they gave their hands, that is, they confirmed with a solemn pledge, that they would cast out, or send away, their wives, and that they would offer a ram of the sheep for their trespass.)
20 And of the sons of Immer; Hanani, and Zebadiah.
21 And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.
22 And of the sons of Pashur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, and Jozabad, and Elasah.
23 And of the sons of deacons (And of the sons of the Levites); Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah; he is called Kelita; Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
24 And of [the] singers, Eliashib; and of [the] porters, Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. (And of the singers, Eliashib; and of the guards, or the doorkeepers, Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.)
25 And of Israel, of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchiah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.
26 And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Eliah.
27 And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.
28 And of the sons of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.
29 And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam, and Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth.
30 And of the sons of Pahath; Moab, Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, and Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. (And of the sons of Pahathmoab; Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, and Maaseiah, Mattaniah, and Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.)
31 And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
33 And of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.
34 Of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel,
35 Benaiah, and Bedeiah, and Chelluh,
36 Vaniah, Meremoth, and Eliashib,
37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau,
38 and Bani, and Binnui, and Shimei,
39 and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,
40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
41 Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,
42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.
43 Of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, Joel, and Benaiah.
44 All these had taken alien, or heathen, wives, and of them were women, that had bore children. (All these had taken foreign wives, and some of these women had brought forth children.)
6 Dare any of you that hath a cause against another, be deemed at wicked men, and not at holy men? [Dare any of you, having a cause against another, be deemed at wicked men, and not at saints, or holy men?]
2 Whether ye know not, that saints shall deem this world? And if the world shall be deemed by you, be ye unworthy to deem the least things?
3 Know ye not, that we shall deem angels? how much more worldly things?
4 Therefore if ye have worldly dooms, ordain ye those contemptible men [ordain ye those contemptible men, or of little reputation], that be in the church, to deem.
5 I say to make you ashamed. So there is not any wise man, that may deem betwixt a brother and his brother; [I say to your shame. So there is not any wise man, that may deem between a brother and his brother;]
6 but brother with brother striveth in doom, and that among unfaithful men.
7 And now trespass is always among you [Now forsooth trespass is all-gates in you], for ye have dooms among you. Why rather take ye not wrong? why rather suffer ye not deceit [why not more suffer ye fraud, or deceit]?
8 But also ye do wrong, and do fraud [and defraud], and that to brethren.
9 Whether ye know not, that wicked men shall not wield the kingdom of God? Do not ye err; neither lechers, neither men that serve maumets [neither men serving to idols], neither adulterers, neither lechers against kind, neither they that do lechery with men,
10 neither thieves, neither avaricious men [neither covetous men, or niggards], neither men full of drunkenness, neither cursers, neither raveners, shall wield the kingdom of God.
11 And ye were sometime these things [And these things ye were sometime]; but ye be washed, but ye be hallowed, but ye be justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
12 All things be leaveful to me, but not all things be speedful. All things be leaveful to me, but I shall not be brought down under any man's power.
13 Meat to the womb, and the womb to meats; and God shall destroy both this and that. And the body not to fornication, but to the Lord, and the Lord to the body.
14 For God raised the Lord, and shall raise us by his virtue.
15 Know ye not, that your bodies be members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and shall I make them the members of a whore? God forbid [Far be it].
16 Whether ye know not, that he that cleaveth to a whore, is made one body? For he saith, There shall be twain in one flesh [There shall be two in one flesh].
17 And he that cleaveth to the Lord, is one spirit.
18 Flee ye fornication; all sin whatever sin a man doeth [all sin whatever a man shall do], is without the body; but he that doeth fornication, sinneth against his body.
19 Whether ye know not, that your members be the temple of the Holy Ghost, that is in you, whom ye have of God, and ye be not your own?
20 For ye be bought with great price. Glorify ye, and bear ye God in your body.
9 Lord, have thou mercy on me, for I am troubled; mine eye is troubled in ire, my soul and my womb also. (Lord, have thou mercy on me, for I am in trouble; my eyes be tired from so much grief, and my soul, and my womb, also be tired.)
10 For why my life failed in sorrow; and my years in wailings. My virtue is made feeble in poverty; and my bones be troubled. (For my life is failing, because of sorrows; and my years, because of wailings. My strength is made feeble, or weak, by poverty; and my bones be diseased.)
11 Over all mine enemies I am made (a) shame, [and] greatly to my neighbours; and dread to my known. They that saw me withoutforth, fled from me; (I am shamed before all my enemies, and especially my neighbours; and I am thought of as someone to be feared by my acquaintances. Those who saw me withoutforth, fled from me;)
12 I am given to forgetting, as a dead man from the heart. I am made as a (for)lorn vessel; (I am forgotten, like a dead man out of mind. I am made like a forlorn vessel;)
13 for I heard despising of many men dwelling in compass. In that thing while they came together against me; they counselled to take my life. (for I have heard the despising of many men who live all around me. And when they came together against me; they plotted to take away my life.)
14 But, Lord, I hoped in thee (But, Lord, I put my trust in thee); I said, Thou art my God;
15 my times be in thine hands. Deliver thou me from the hands of mine enemies; and from them that pursue me. (my life is in thy hands. Rescue thou me from the power of my enemies; and from those who persecute me.)
16 Make thou clear thy face on thy servant; Lord, make thou me safe in thy mercy; (Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; Lord, save thou me in thy love;)
17 be I not shamed, for I inwardly called thee. Unpious men be ashamed, and be they led forth into hell; (let me not be shamed, for I have called upon thee. Let the unpious, or the unrighteous, be ashamed, and let them go down to Sheol, or the land of the dead;)
18 guileful lips be made dumb. That speak wickedness against a just man; in pride, and in mis-using/in pride, and in abusing. (and let deceitful lips be made dumb. Yea, those who speak wickedness against the righteous; in pride, and in mis-using/in pride, and in abusing.)
3 To do mercy and doom, pleaseth more the Lord, than sacrifices. (To do mercy and justice, that pleaseth the Lord more than sacrifices, or burnt offerings.)
2001 by Terence P. Noble