Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Ezra arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.
- BSB So Ezra got up and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said. And they took the oath.
- NKJV Then Ezra arose, and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel swear an oath that they would do according to this word. So they swore an oath.
- NASB Then Ezra stood and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel take an oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath.
- NLT So Ezra stood up and demanded that the leaders of the priests and the Levites and all the people of Israel swear that they would do as Shecaniah had said. And they all swore a solemn oath.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ezra rose and put the leaders and all Israel under oath to carry out the proposal. He bound the community by solemn vow to follow through on their repentance.
Overview
Ezra translated the people's words into a binding commitment, having priests, Levites, and all Israel swear to act. The oath ensured that repentance would not fade into mere emotion but issue in obedience. This insistence that confession be matched by committed action reflects the biblical truth that genuine faith and repentance bear fruit in changed conduct (James 2:17).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Neh 13:25And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.
- Neh 5:12Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.
- Prov 15:23A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!
- Prov 27:9Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
- Prov 25:11–12A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
- Prov 1:5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
- Prov 9:9Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
- Ezra 10:3Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
- Matt 26:63But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
- Neh 10:29They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;
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Christ at the center
The return from exile and the rebuilt altar keep alive the hope of a greater restoration — the true return from our deeper exile of sin accomplished by Christ.
How Ezra 10:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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