Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ¹  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

Then the priests and the Levites took charge of ¹  the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. ¹  And they all took a solemn oath.

It was determined ¹  that from the descendants of the priests, the following had taken foreign wives: from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

They replied, “We will return these things, ¹  and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials ²  swear to do what had been promised. ³ 

On the second day of the month the family leaders ¹  met with ²  Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law.

Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law. They have not paid attention to your commandments or your testimonies by which you have solemnly admonished them.

(10:1) ¹  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ²  in written form; ³  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ⁴  on the sealed document.”

some of the priests ¹  with trumpets, Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,

Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, ¹  clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests, servants of our God.’ ¹  You will enjoy ²  the wealth of nations and boast about ³  the riches you receive from them. ⁴ 

Your priests ¹  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ²  Those responsible for teaching my law ³  did not really know me. ⁴  Your rulers rebelled against me. Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ⁵  They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ⁶ 

Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught, so the people of Israel ¹  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ²  So will their kings and officials, their priests and their prophets.

“When this happens,” ¹  says the Lord, “the king and his officials will lose their courage. The priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.”

The prophets prophesy lies. The priests exercise power by their own authority. ¹  And my people love to have it this way. But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ² 

The Lord told Jeremiah, ¹  “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. ²  Take with you ³  some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders ⁴  of the priests.

Jeremiah had just barely finished saying all the Lord had commanded him to say to all the people. All at once some ¹  of the priests, the prophets, and the people grabbed him and shouted, “You deserve to die! ² 

Then the priests and the prophets made their charges before the officials and all the people. They said, ¹  “This man should be condemned to die ²  because he prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so ³  with your own ears.”

Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said, ¹  “This man should not be condemned to die. ²  For he has spoken to us under the authority of the Lord our God.” ³ 

“Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches. So you too will be conquered. Your god Chemosh ¹  will go into exile ²  along with his priests and his officials.