Making a clean break from sin

In the book of Ezra, chapter 9. it was known that the Israelites, upon their return to Jerusalem, had married other people in nearby lands.  Also, their children had done the same thing by marrying others who were practitioners of detestable religions.

Instead of bringing their new wives and husbands into the Lord, they were drawn away from it by their exotic nature.

Ezra was distraught by this, tearing his clothes and mourning all that they had worked so hard for, in order to please the Lord.  He prayed to the Lord, knowing they should be punished for their wickedness.

Then, in chapter 10, Ezra confessed the sin of their people to the Lord and He offered a solution.  Since they had been unfaithful to the Lord, they were to create a covenant with God by divorcing their pagan spouses and sending away the children from those wicked marriages.  They were to make a clean break, drawing a line in the sand, and denouncing the exotic ways of the other people.

Ezra knew this task wasn't going to be easy, so he divided each family to come before the Temple to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and separate themselves from their pagan spouses.  Those who did not do so would forfeit all of their property.  Only one did so, but all of the others followed their way back to the Lord.