5 Within the three days, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the men of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem
6 and assembled in the Temple square. Everyone was shivering with the cold because it was wintertime.
7 Then Ezra stood up and spoke to them, “You have broken the Law and brought guilt on Israel by marrying foreign women.
8 Now then, tell the truth and confess your sins to the Lord, the God of our ancestors,
9 and do what he requires. Separate yourselves from the foreigners living in our land and get rid of your foreign wives.”
10 The people shouted in reply, “We will do whatever you say.”
11 But they added, “The crowd is too big, and it's wintertime. We can't stand here in the open like this. This isn't something that can be settled in one or two days, since so many of us are involved in this sin.