Ezra 10:1-5·~1 min

Shecaniah’s Encouragement

Ezra’s mourning draws a large, weeping assembly, and Shecaniah answers the crisis with both confession and a proposal. He acknowledges Israel’s unfaithfulness yet says hope remains if the people act under God’s law.

W¹hile Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites — men, women, and children — gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well. ²Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel. ³So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.

Shecaniah places the burden of leadership on Ezra and promises support. Ezra rises and binds the leaders and the people with an oath to carry out the plan.

⁴Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we will support you. Be strong and take action!” ⁵So 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.

Section summaryAs Ezra lies weeping before the house of God, the people gather and weep with him. Shecaniah names the sin plainly, insists that hope remains, and urges Ezra to lead Israel in a binding response.

Role in the chapterThis opening section turns Ezra’s private confession into shared national action. It frames the chapter by joining grief, hope, and covenant resolve at the very start.