And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain. 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you …

10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel. 11 Now, therefore, make a confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the …

10 The People’s Confession of Sin 1 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him.

Chapter 10. Ezra encourages to reformation. (1-5) He assembles the people. (6-14) Reformation effected. (15-44) Verses 1-5 Shechaniah owned the national guilt. The case is sad, but it is not desperate; the disease threatening, but not incurable.

10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. 11 Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.

10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. 11 Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.

10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have transgressed and have taken pagan wives, adding to the guilt of Israel. 11 Now therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers, and do His will; separate yourselves from …

Ezra 10 brings to a close the book of Ezra with a story of the people's return to fidelity and obedience to the Law of Moses. The Israelites had intermarried with the surrounding peoples, against God's commands. When confronted with this sin, they choose a drastic path of repentance, which involves leaving their foreign wives and children.

The context of Ezra 10 involves the Israelites repenting and separating from foreign wives to restore their covenant relationship with God. Zabbai's name aligns with the theme of cleansing and renewal.

10 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. 2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign ...