24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.

25 So I ^acontended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them ^bswear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves.  ‡

28 And one of the sons ^aof Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of ^bSanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.  ‡

29 ^aRemember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and ^bthe covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.  ‡