Repentance in the Rain

Ezra's public grief moved the people. A very great assembly gathered and wept bitterly. Shecaniah the son of Jehiel spoke honestly: they had trespassed against God, yet there was hope for Israel. Repentance was possible because God is merciful.

He urged Ezra to arise, be courageous, and act, promising the people's support. Ezra put the leaders under oath and then fasted and mourned in a room of the temple. A summons called all the returned exiles to Jerusalem within three days.

On the twentieth day of the ninth month, in the season of heavy rain, the people sat trembling in the square before God's house. Ezra told them to confess to Yahweh and separate themselves from the peoples of the land and the foreign wives. The assembly agreed with a loud voice but asked for an orderly process, so leaders and judges examined each case over three months. A few opposed the plan. The list that follows includes priests, Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, showing that the call to faithfulness reached every part of the community. The book ends not with a celebration but with a people learning to take God's word seriously.