And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, [with] certain heads of fathers` [houses], after their fathers` houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
Ezra 10:14 Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be despatched.
Ezra 10:15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this [matter]: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.
Ezra 10:16 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, [with] certain heads of fathers` [houses], after their fathers` houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
Ezra 10:17 And they made an end with all the men that had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.
Ezra 10:18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married foreign women: [namely], of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.
The verse centers on "children", "captivity", "ezra", "priest", "certain", "heads", "fathers", and "houses". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "children" and "captivity", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and..." into verse 17's "And they made an end with all...", so "children" and "captivity" belong inside that flow. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "children" and "captivity" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.