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The descendants of Delaiah, the descendants of Tobiah, the children of Nekariah, six hundred and fifty-two.

AND when the seventh month was come and the children of Israel were in their cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to go up to Jerusalem.

And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the children of Judah celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

And the children of Israel who had come up from the captivity of Babylon, all such who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land to pray before the LORD God of Israel, did eat.

And there went up some of the children of Israel and of the priests and the Levites, the ministers, and the porters and the Nethinites and of those who had formerly gone up to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artakhshisht the king.

Now therefore give not your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever, that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.

NOW when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, prostrating himself and weeping before the house of the LORD, there assembled to him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children; for the children wept bitterly.

All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

Let thine eyes now be open, and thine ears attentive, to hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and I confess the sins of the children of Israel which they have sinned against thee; moreover, both I and my fathers house have sinned before thee.

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

And there were also those who said, Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children are as their children; and, 1o, we are compelling our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are already compelled to become maidservants; and yet they do not raise their hands in protest before God; and our fields, our vineyards, and our goods are given for other men.

We are redeeming our brethren the Jews, who were sold to the nations, both they and their children, and will you even take a man in pledge for his brother? Therefore I shouted at them, and said to them, Will you also sell your brethren? Then they were silent, and did not answer me.

Then they said to me, We will do as you say. Then I called the priests, and said to them, This is the right thing to do, and I took an oath of them to do according to this promise. I did this also to the children of the common people.

So the priests and the Levites and the porters and the attendants and some of the people and the Nethanites and all Israel returned to their own cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.

And they found it written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the month of Tishrin

And all the people of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was a very great gladness.

NOW on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and ashes upon them.

Their children also thou didst multiply as the stars of heaven, and thou didst bring them into the land concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.

So their children went in and possessed the land, and thou didst defeat before them the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites, and didst deliver them into their hands with their kings and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

For the children of Israel and the descendants of Levi shall bring the offerings of the grain, of the wine, and the oil to the storehouses where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests, the Levites, the porters, and the guards shall not forsake the house of our God.