Ezra 9:5

⁵וּבְמִנְחַת הָעֶרֶב, קַמְתִּי מִתַּעֲנִיתִי, וּבְקָרְעִי בִגְדִי וּמְעִילִי; וָאֶכְרְעָה עַל־בִּרְכַּי, וָאֶפְרְשָׂה כַפַּי אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי׃

Ezra 9 records a crisis of covenant faithfulness. Ezra learns that the returned exiles, including priests and Levites, have intermarried with the surrounding peoples who practice idolatry. This is not a matter of ethnic purity but of spiritual fidelity: such marriages had led Isr