Ezra 10:1 - The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann

Now, when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, for it was in the court of the Lord that he made his prayer, as shown in chapter 9, there assembled unto him out of Israel, out of those present for the evening sacrifice, a very great congregation of men and women and children; for the people wept very sore, they were plunged into great depths of grief over the evil circumstances into which so many had plunged themselves by contracting forbidden marriages. Ezra's passionate prayer, therefore, was a sensation which attracted people to the court of the Temple in increasing numbers.