2 For they have ^btaken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race¹ has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this ^cfaithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.”

4 Then all who ^etrembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the ^fevening sacrifice.

6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night,^{1 y}neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles.

10 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.