BiblePeace

Day 143: Ezra 4 - 8

Bible in a year reading for day 143.

Ezra 4

  1. 21 Now, therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.
  2. 22 See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the royal interests to suffer?
  3. 23 When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
  4. 24 Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 5

  1. 1 Later, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
  2. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
  3. 3 At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates went to the Jews and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”
  4. 4 They also asked, “What are the names of the men who are constructing this building?”
  5. 5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.
  6. 6 This is the text of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, the officials in the region, sent to King Darius.
  7. 7 The report they sent him read as follows: To King Darius: All peace.
  8. 8 Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. The people are rebuilding it with large stones, and placing timbers in the walls. This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.
  9. 9 So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”
  10. 10 We also asked for their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.
  11. 11 And this is the answer they returned: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.
  12. 12 But since our fathers angered the God of heaven, He delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this temple and carried away the people to Babylon.
  13. 13 In his first year, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.
  14. 14 He also removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken and carried there from the temple in Jerusalem. King Cyrus gave these articles to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor
  15. 15 and instructed, ‘Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.’
  16. 16 So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, but it has not yet been completed.”
  17. 17 Now, therefore, if it pleases the king, let a search be made of the royal archives in Babylon to see if King Cyrus did indeed issue a decree to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

Ezra 6

  1. 1 Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon.
  2. 2 And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it: Memorandum:
  3. 3 In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its foundations be firmly laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,
  4. 4 with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.
  5. 5 Furthermore, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, must also be returned to the temple in Jerusalem and deposited in the house of God.
  6. 6 Therefore Darius decreed: To Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates and officials in the region: You must stay away from that place!
  7. 7 Leave this work on the house of God alone. Let the governor and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.
  8. 8 I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.
  9. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given to them daily without fail.
  10. 10 Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.
  11. 11 I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own house shall be made a pile of rubble for this offense.
  12. 12 May God, who has caused His Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to alter this decree or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out with diligence.
  13. 13 In response, Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed.
  14. 14 So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
  15. 15 And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
  16. 16 Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
  17. 17 For the dedication of the house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and a sin offering for all Israel of twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel.
  18. 18 They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
  19. 19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover.
  20. 20 All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves.
  21. 21 The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.
  22. 22 For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.

Ezra 7

  1. 1 Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
  2. 2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
  3. 3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
  4. 4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
  5. 5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest—
  6. 6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
  7. 7 So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants.
  8. 8 Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king.
  9. 9 He had begun the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him.
  10. 10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
  11. 11 This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in the commandments and statutes of the LORD to Israel:
  12. 12 Artaxerxes, king of kings. To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings.
  13. 13 I hereby decree that any volunteers among the Israelites in my kingdom, including the priests and Levites, may go up with you to Jerusalem.
  14. 14 You are sent by the king and his seven counselors to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand.
  15. 15 Moreover, you are to take with you the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
  16. 16 together with all the silver and gold you may find in all the province of Babylon, as well as the freewill offerings of the people and priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.
  17. 17 With this money, therefore, you are to buy as many bulls, rams, and lambs as needed, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem.
  18. 18 You and your brothers may do whatever seems best with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God.
  19. 19 You must deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.
  20. 20 And if anything else is needed for the house of your God that you may have occasion to supply, you may pay for it from the royal treasury.
  21. 21 I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all the treasurers west of the Euphrates: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it must be provided promptly,
  22. 22 up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil, and salt without limit.
  23. 23 Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for His house. For why should wrath fall on the realm of the king and his sons?
  24. 24 And be advised that you have no authority to impose tribute, duty, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
  25. 25 And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.
  26. 26 If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a strict judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
  27. 27 Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,
  28. 28 and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.

Ezra 8

  1. 1 These are the family heads and genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
  2. 2 from the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom; from the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel;
  3. 3 from the descendants of David, Hattush of the descendants of Shecaniah; from the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;
  4. 4 from the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;
  5. 5 from the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;
  6. 6 from the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;
  7. 7 from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;
  8. 8 from the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;
  9. 9 from the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;
  10. 10 from the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;
  11. 11 from the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;
  12. 12 from the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;
  13. 13 from the later descendants of Adonikam, these were their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;
  14. 14 and from the descendants of Bigvai, both Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

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