Ezra 10:10
New International Version
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.

New Living Translation
Then Ezra the priest stood and said to them: “You have committed a terrible sin. By marrying pagan women, you have increased Israel’s guilt.

English Standard Version
And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

King James Bible
And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.

New King James Version
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have transgressed and have taken pagan wives, adding to the guilt of Israel.

New American Standard Bible
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives, adding to the guilt of Israel.

NASB 1995
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel.

NASB 1977
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Ezra the priest arose and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel.

Amplified Bible
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful [to God] and have married foreign (pagan) women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

Christian Standard Bible
Then the priest Ezra stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.

American Standard Version
And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

Contemporary English Version
Ezra the priest stood up and said: You have broken God's Law by marrying foreign women, and you have made the whole nation guilty!

English Revised Version
And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have trespassed, and have married strange women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, and now you have added to Israel's guilt.

Good News Translation
Ezra the priest stood up and spoke to them. He said, "You have been faithless and have brought guilt on Israel by marrying foreign women.

International Standard Version
Ezra the priest stood up and spoke to them, "You have sinned by marrying foreign wives, thereby increasing the transgressions of Israel.

Majority Standard Bible
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, ?You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

NET Bible
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have behaved in an unfaithful manner by taking foreign wives! This has contributed to the guilt of Israel.

New Heart English Bible
Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, "You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken foreign wives to increase the trespass of Israel.

World English Bible
Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, increasing the guilt of Israel.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And Ezra the priest rises and says to them, “You have trespassed, and you settle strange women, to add to the guilt of Israel;

Young's Literal Translation
And Ezra the priest riseth, and saith unto them, 'Ye -- ye have trespassed, and ye settle strange women, to add to the guilt of Israel;

Smith's Literal Translation
And Ezra the priest will rise up and say to them, Ye transgressed, and ye will dwell with strange wives to add upon the guilt of Israel.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Esdras the priest stood up, and said to them: You have transgressed, and taken strange wives, to add to the sine of Israel.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And Ezra, the priest, rose up, and he said to them: “You have transgressed, and you have taken foreign wives, so that you added to the offenses of Israel.

New American Bible
Then Ezra, the priest, stood up and said to them: “Your apostasy in taking foreign women as wives has added to Israel’s guilt.

New Revised Standard Version
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have trespassed and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, You have transgressed against God, and have taken foreign wives, and thus increased the sins of Israel.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Azra the Priest stood and said to them: “You have denied God and you have taken foreign wives and you have added to the sins of Israel.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them: 'Ye have broken faith, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Esdras the priest arose, and said to them, Ye have broken covenant, and have taken strange wives, to add to the trespass of Israel.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The People's Confession of Sin
9So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain. 10Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel. 11Now, therefore, make a confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”…

Cross References
Nehemiah 13:23-27
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. / Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah. / I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves! ...

Deuteronomy 7:3-4
Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, / because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

Malachi 2:11-12
Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. / As for the man who does this, may the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and aware—even if he brings an offering to the LORD of Hosts.

1 Kings 11:1-4
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. / These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. / He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away. ...

Exodus 34:15-16
Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. / And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? / What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? / What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” ...

Joshua 23:12-13
For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them, / know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

1 Corinthians 7:12-14
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. / And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. / For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

Judges 3:5-6
Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. / And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

1 Kings 16:31-33
And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal. / First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. / Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.

2 Kings 17:7-8
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods / and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. / And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?

2 Chronicles 19:2
Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to confront him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.

2 Corinthians 7:9-11
yet now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. / Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. / Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

Leviticus 18:24-30
Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. / Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. / But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. ...


Treasury of Scripture

And Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, You have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.

taken.

Ezra 9:6
And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.

Numbers 32:14
And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel.

Joshua 22:17,18
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, …

Jump to Previous
Acted Adding Broken Ezra Faith Feet Foreign Guilt Increase Increased Increasing Israel Israel's Married Priest Riseth Stood Strange Transgressed Trespass Trespassed Unfaithful Wives Women
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Acted Adding Broken Ezra Faith Feet Foreign Guilt Increase Increased Increasing Israel Israel's Married Priest Riseth Stood Strange Transgressed Trespass Trespassed Unfaithful Wives Women
Ezra 10
1. Ezra encouraged to reform the strange marriages
6. Ezra assembles the people
9. The people repent, and promise amendment
15. The care to perform it
18. The names of them which had married strange wives














Then Ezra the priest stood up
Ezra, a scribe and priest, is a central figure in the restoration of Israel post-exile. His standing up signifies taking a position of authority and responsibility. The Hebrew root for "stood up" (קוּם, qum) often implies rising to action or taking a stand, indicating Ezra's readiness to address the community's sin. Historically, priests were mediators between God and the people, and Ezra's role here is crucial in leading the people back to covenant faithfulness.

and said to them
Ezra's speech is a direct confrontation of the people's sin. The act of speaking (אָמַר, amar) in Hebrew often carries the weight of delivering a message from God. Ezra's words are not merely his own but are seen as divinely inspired, reflecting the seriousness of the situation. In the context of ancient Israel, public addresses by leaders were pivotal in guiding communal repentance and reform.

You have been unfaithful
The term "unfaithful" (מָעַל, ma'al) in Hebrew conveys a breach of trust or betrayal, often used in the context of covenant violations. Israel's relationship with God was covenantal, and unfaithfulness was akin to spiritual adultery. This accusation is severe, highlighting the gravity of their actions against the covenant established at Sinai.

by marrying foreign women
The issue of intermarriage with foreign women was not merely about ethnicity but about religious purity and the potential for idolatry. The Hebrew term for "foreign" (נָכְרִי, nokri) often implies those outside the covenant community. Historically, intermarriage led to the introduction of foreign gods and practices, which was a direct violation of the command to remain separate and holy (Deuteronomy 7:3-4).

adding to the guilt of Israel
The phrase "adding to the guilt" (אָשָׁם, asham) suggests an accumulation of sin, increasing the nation's culpability before God. In the Hebrew context, guilt was not just a personal burden but a communal one, affecting the entire nation's standing with God. This reflects the collective responsibility in Israel's covenant relationship, where the actions of individuals could impact the whole community.

Verse 10. - Ezra the priest stood up. Now that the time had come for action, Ezra was not wanting to his duties. The chief authority had been put into his hands by the Persian king (Ezra 7:25, 26), and he was bound to exercise it. Accordingly, the great bulk of the nation being assembled in obedience to the proclamation, Ezra came forward in person, and declared that the "strange wives" must be put away. Ye have taken strange wives. Literally, "have caused to dwell," i.e. have made them come and live with you in the holy land.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Ezra
עֶזְרָ֤א (‘ez·rā)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5830: Ezra -- 'help', three Israelites

the priest
הַכֹּהֵן֙ (hak·kō·hên)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3548: Priest

stood up
וַיָּ֨קָם (way·yā·qām)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6965: To arise, stand up, stand

and said
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to them,
אֲלֵהֶ֔ם (’ă·lê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

“You
אַתֶּ֣ם (’at·tem)
Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

have been unfaithful
מְעַלְתֶּ֔ם (mə·‘al·tem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 4603: To cover up, to act covertly, treacherously

by marrying
וַתֹּשִׁ֖יבוּ (wat·tō·šî·ḇū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

foreign
נָכְרִיּ֑וֹת (nā·ḵə·rî·yō·wṯ)
Adjective - feminine plural
Strong's 5237: Foreign, alien

women,
נָשִׁ֣ים (nā·šîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

adding
לְהוֹסִ֖יף (lə·hō·w·sîp̄)
Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct
Strong's 3254: To add, augment

to
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the guilt
אַשְׁמַ֥ת (’aš·maṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 819: Guiltiness, a fault, the presentation of a, sin-offering

of Israel.
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc


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OT History: Ezra 10:10 Ezra the priest stood up and said (Ezr. Ez)
Ezra 10:9
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