23 During that time, I also saw Yehudim (Jews) who’d married women from Ashdod, Amon, and Moav (Moab), 24 and half of their children spoke a foreign language from those other people groups and couldn’t speak Hebrew. 25 So I scolded those men and cursed them and hit some of them and pulled out their hair. Then I forced them to promise in front on God that they wouldn’t allow their daughters to marry foreign men, or their sons to take foreign wives. 26 I explained, “Didn’t Yisrael’s (Israel’s) own King Shelomoh (Solomon) sin concerning that same matter? Among all the countries in the world, there wasn’t any other king like, and he was loved by his god who’d placed him there as king over all Yisrael. But even then, the foreign women caused him to sin. 27 So do we need to hear about all of you doing this terrible evil of being unfaithful to God by marrying foreign wives?”

28 Also one of Yoyada’s sons (grandson of the high priest Elyashiv) was a son-in-law of Sanvalat the Horoni,[ref] so I banished him from my sight.

29 My god, remember them for bringing shame to the priesthood and dishonouring the vows made by the priests and the Levites.

30 Then I purified them from everything foreign, established regulations for each part of the work done by the priests and the Levites, 31 and organised the firewood supply at certain times, including for the first-fruits celebrations.

My god, remember me for good.