I reprimanded the officials for letting the Temple be neglected. And I brought the Levites and musicians back to the Temple and put them to work again.

I reprimanded the Jewish leaders and told them, "Look at the evil you're doing! You're making the Sabbath unholy.

If you have no regard for the law, you are on the side of the wicked; but if you obey it, you are against them.

Then I took off the sash I was wearing around my waist and shook it out. "This is how God will shake any of you who don't keep your promise," I said. "God will take away your houses and everything you own, and will leave you with nothing." Everyone who was present said, "Amen!" and praised the LORD. And the leaders kept their promise.

The Levites will speak these words in a loud voice:

" 'God's curse on anyone who dishonors his father or mother.' "And all the people will answer, 'Amen!'

" 'God's curse on anyone who leads a blind person in the wrong direction.' "And all the people will answer, 'Amen!'

" 'God's curse on anyone who disgraces his father by having intercourse with any of his father's wives.' "And all the people will answer, 'Amen!'

" 'God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his sister or half sister.' "And all the people will answer, 'Amen!'

" 'God's curse on anyone who secretly commits murder.' "And all the people will answer, 'Amen!'

" 'God's curse on anyone who does not obey all of God's laws and teachings.' "And all the people will answer, 'Amen!'

They despise those whom God rejects, but honor those who obey the LORD. They always do what they promise, no matter how much it may cost.

One of the teachers of the Law said to him, "Teacher, when you say this, you insult us too!"

Jesus answered, "How terrible also for you teachers of the Law! You put onto people's backs loads which are hard to carry, but you yourselves will not stretch out a finger to help them carry those loads.

If the guilty one is sentenced to be beaten, the judge is to make him lie face downward and have him whipped. The number of lashes will depend on the crime he has committed.

He may be given as many as forty lashes, but no more; more than that would humiliate him publicly.

If any disobey the laws of your God or the laws of the empire, they are to be punished promptly: by death or by exile or by confiscation of their property or by imprisonment."

I bared my back to those who beat me. I did not stop them when they insulted me, when they pulled out the hairs of my beard and spit in my face.

do hereby join with our leaders in an oath, under penalty of a curse if we break it, that we will live according to God's Law, which God gave through his servant Moses; that we will obey all that the LORD, our Lord, commands us; and that we will keep all his laws and requirements.

We will not intermarry with the foreigners living in our land.

Honor the LORD your God, worship only him, and make your promises in his name alone.

They made a covenant in which they agreed to worship the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.

In a loud voice they took an oath in the LORD's name that they would keep the covenant, and then they shouted and blew trumpets.

So Ezra began by making the leaders of the priests, of the Levites, and of the rest of the people take an oath that they would do what Shecaniah had proposed.

Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods.

Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them,