Ezra 9:1-4 ▼

1 And at the completion of these things the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands as to their abominations, even the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, the Egyptian, and the Amorite.

2 For they have taken from their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of the lands. And indeed the hand of the leaders and the rulers has been foremost in this trespass.”

3 And at my hearing this word, I tore my garment and my robe, and I pulled out some of the hair of my head and beard, and I sat down appalled.

4 And they assembled to me—everyone trembling at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of the exiles. And I sat appalled until the sacrifice of the evening.