Ezra 10: Separation

In response to the crisis of intermarriage, Ezra urges the Jews to separate from their foreign wives and children.

"Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have trespassed and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.  Now make confession to the Lord the God of your ancestors, and do his will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”  Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said" (vs. 10-12).

After a delay due to weather concerns and the great number of people who must go through the separation, the deed is done.  A list of men who were guilty of foreign wives is found in verses 18 through 43.  Though it must have been heartbreaking for all involved, the men separate from their wives for the good of the nation and the faithfulness to the covenant.

The Book of Ezra concludes with the grim verse, "All these had married foreign women, and they sent them away with their children" (vs. 44)