“And a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem.”
Ezra 10:7 (BSB)
Context Reading
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. 6Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. And while he stayed there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. 7And a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem. 8Whoever failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, according to the counsel of the leaders and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles. 9So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.