Our sin and rebellion will inevitably bring pain. As we end the book of Ezra, we see the priest launch an investigation into the reports of foreign wives and carefully make a case-by-case determination as to which marriages had to be dissolved. For those women with a heart like Ruth who were willing to convert to the Lord, there was mercy. Families were restored and holiness was maintained. But still, the consequences would linger, leading to a probable attack on Jerusalem in which the walls were burned with fire. And enter Nehemiah.