68 Later the Jewish leaders came to me and said: 69 Many of the Israelites, including some of the rulers, the priests, and the Levites, are living just like the people around them. They are even guilty of the same kinds of horrible sins as those committed by the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Edomites. 70 In addition, Israelite men have married foreign women and have let their sons do the same thing. Some of our own officials and leaders were among the first men to commit this disgusting sin, and now God's holy people are mixed with foreigners.

71 This news made me so angry that I ripped my clothes and my sacred robe and tore hair from my head and beard. Then I just sat down, deeply worried and full of sorrow 72 and grief over this sin. Many of our people really wanted to obey the Lord of Israel, and they gathered around me as I sat there. At the time of the evening sacrifice

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version ®. Copyright © 1995 American Bible Society. Used by permission.