23. I discovered that some Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
24. About half of their children could not speak Hebrew—they spoke only the language of Ashdod or some other foreign language.
25. So in my anger, I called down curses on those men. I had them beaten and even pulled out the hair of some of them. Then I made them promise:In the name of God we solemnly promise not to let our sons and daughters marry foreigners.
26. God dearly loved King Solomon of Israel and made him the greatest king on earth, but Solomon's foreign wives led him into sin.
27. So we will obey you and not rebel against our God by marrying foreign women.
28. Jehoiada, the son of the high priest Eliashib, had a son who had married a daughter of Sanballat from Horon, and I forced his son to leave.
29. I pray that God will punish them for breaking their priestly vows and disgracing the Levi tribe.
30. Then I made sure that the people were free from every foreign influence, and I assigned duties for the priests and Levites.
31. I also arranged for the people to bring firewood to the altar each day and for them to bring the first part of their harvest to the temple.I pray that God will bless me for the good I have done.