Ezra 10:2
And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.
Shechaniah, son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, confessed on behalf of Israel that the people had trespassed against their God by taking strange wives from the peoples of the land. That intermarriage with women from the surrounding peoples was sin against God and contrary to His law. Yet even in that trespass there was hope in Israel concerning this thing, if the people would turn from their sin. The hope held out was not excuse but opportunity for repentance, that the wrong could still be set right.
The confession marks the beginning of a reformation in which the people were led to turn from sin and obey God's law. That hope called for repentance expressed in a covenant with God to forsake the sin. It required submitting to judgment and acting according to the law. Shechaniah urged Ezra to arise and lead the reform, and pledged the support of the people to stand with him and help him do it.