Evil Bible Quote of the Day for Nov. 12, 2003 from www.EvilBible.com:
Desert Wives and Children (Ezra 10:2-44 NAB)
Then Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, made this
appeal to Ezra: "We have indeed betrayed our God by taking as wives foreign
women of the peoples of the land. Yet even now there remains a hope for
Israel. Let us therefore enter into a covenant before our God to dismiss
all our foreign wives and the children born of them, in keeping with what
you, my lord, advise, and those who fear the commandments of our God. Let
the law be observed! Rise, then, for this is your duty! We will stand by
you, so have courage and take action!"
Ezra rose to his feet and demanded an oath from the chiefs of the
priests, from the Levites and from all Israel that they would do as had been
proposed; and they swore it. Then Ezra retired from his place before the
house of God and entered the chamber of Johanan, son of Eliashib, where he
spent the night neither eating food nor drinking water, for he was in
mourning over the betrayal by the exiles. A proclamation was made
throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather together in
Jerusalem, and that whoever failed to appear within three days would,
according to the judgment of the leaders and elders, suffer the confiscation
of all his possessions, and himself be excluded from the assembly of the
exiles.
All the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together in Jerusalem within
the three-day period: it was in the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the
month. All the people, standing in the open place before the house of God,
were trembling both over the matter at hand and because it was raining.
Then Ezra, the priest, stood up and said to them: "Your unfaithfulness in
taking foreign women as wives has added to Israel's guilt. But now, give
praise to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do his will: separate
yourselves from the peoples of the land and from these foreign women." In
answer, the whole assembly cried out with a loud voice: "Yes, it is our duty
to do as you say! But the people are numerous and it is the rainy season,
so that we cannot remain out-of-doors; besides, this is not a task that can
be performed in a single day or even two, for those of us who have sinned in
this regard are many. Let our leaders represent the whole assembly; then
let all those in our cities who have taken foreign women for wives appear at
appointed times, accompanied by the elders and magistrates of each city in
question, till we have turned away from us our God's burning anger over this
affair." Only Jonathan, son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah, son of Tikvah, were
against this proposal, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting
them.
The exiles did as agreed. Ezra appointed as his assistants men who were
family heads, one for each family, all of them designated by name. They
held sessions to examine the matter, beginning with the first day of the
tenth month. By the first day of the first month they had passed judgment
on all the men who had taken foreign women for wives. Among the priests,
the following were found to have taken foreign women for wives: [snipped
list of names]
(verse 44) All these had taken foreign wives; but they sent them away,
both
the women and their children.
What kind of person would get their moral guidance from an ancient book of
myths and magic that says it is OK to murder, rape, pillage, and plunder?
Read more about the evils of the Bible at www.EvilBible.com.
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