5. So Ezra got up and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel take a solemn pledge that they would do as had been said. So they took a solemn pledge.
6. Then Ezra got up from the area in front of God’s house and went to the room of Jehohanan, Eliashib’s son, where he spent the night. He didn’t eat food or drink water, for he was mourning because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
7. An order was then circulated throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the returned exiles should gather in Jerusalem.
8. All those who failed to appear within three days, as mandated by the officials and elders, would have all their property taken away. They would be separated from the congregation of the exiles.
9. So within three days, all the people of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month. All of the people sat in the area in front of God’s house, trembling because of this order and because of the heavy rain.