Psalm 126

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Psalm 126

Zion’s Restoration

A song of ascents.

¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,^[a]
we were like those who dream.^(A)
²Our mouths were filled with laughter then,^(B)
and our tongues with shouts of joy.^(C)
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”^(D)
³The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful.^(E)

⁴Restore our fortunes,^[b] Lord,
like watercourses in the Negev.^(F)
⁵Those who sow in tears
will reap with shouts of joy.^(G)
⁶Though one goes along weeping,
carrying the bag of seed,
he will surely come back with shouts of joy,
carrying his sheaves.^(H)

Footnotes

Psalm 126:1 Or Lord returned those of Zion who had been captives
Psalm 126:4 Or Return our captives

Ezra 6-8

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Darius’s Search

6 King Darius gave the order, and they searched^(A) in the library of Babylon in the archives.^[a]^(B) ²But it was in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Media^(C) that a scroll was found with this record written on it:

³In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree^(D) concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:

Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained.^[b] Its height is to be 90 feet^[c] and its width 90 feet,^[d]^[e]^(E) ⁴with three layers of cut^[f] stones and one of timber.^(F) The cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.^(G) ⁵The gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon must also be returned. They are to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem where they belong^[g] and put into the house of God.^(H)

Darius’s Decree

⁶Therefore, you must stay away from that place, Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your^[h] colleagues, the officials in the region.^(I) ⁷Leave the construction of the house of God alone. Let the governor^(J) and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

⁸I hereby issue a decree concerning what you must do, so that the elders of the Jews can rebuild the house of God:

The cost is to be paid in full to these men out of the royal revenues^(K) from the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that the work will not stop. ⁹Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, or wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given to them every day without fail,^(L) ¹⁰so that they can offer sacrifices of pleasing aroma to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.^(M)

¹¹I also issue a decree concerning any man who interferes with this directive:

Let a beam be torn from his house and raised up; he will be impaled on it, and his house will be made into a garbage dump because of this offense.^(N) ¹²May the God who caused His name to dwell there^(O) overthrow any king or people who dares^[i] to harm or interfere with this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.

¹³Then Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues^(P) diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed. ¹⁴So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo.^(Q) They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,^(R) Darius, and King Artaxerxes^(S) of Persia. ¹⁵This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar^[j]^(T) in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Temple Dedication and the Passover

¹⁶Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. ¹⁷For the dedication of God’s house they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs, as well as 12 male goats^(U) as a sin offering for all Israel—one for each Israelite tribe. ¹⁸They 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.^(V)

¹⁹The exiles^(W) observed the Passover^(X) on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²⁰All of the priests and Levites were ceremonially clean, because they had purified themselves. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves, their priestly brothers, and all the exiles.^(Y) ²¹The Israelites who had returned from exile^(Z) ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land^[k]^(AA) in order to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel. ²²They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days^(AB) with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them^[l] in the work on the house of the God of Israel.^(AC)

Ezra’s Arrival

7 After these events, during the reign of King Artaxerxes^(AD) of Persia, Ezra—

Seraiah’s^(AE) son, Azariah’s son,
Hilkiah’s^(AF) son, ²Shallum’s son,
Zadok’s^(AG) son, Ahitub’s son,
³Amariah’s son, Azariah’s son,
Meraioth’s son, ⁴Zerahiah’s son,
Uzzi’s son, Bukki’s son,
⁵Abishua’s son, Phinehas’s son,
Eleazar’s son, Aaron the chief priest’s son^(AH)

⁶—came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses,^(AI) which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he requested^(AJ) because the hand of Yahweh his God was on him.^(AK) ⁷Some of the Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants^(AL) accompanied him to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

⁸Ezra^[m] came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the seventh year of the king. ⁹He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month^(AM) and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month^(AN) since the gracious hand of his God was on him.^(AO) ¹⁰Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach^(AP) its statutes and ordinances in Israel.

Letter from Artaxerxes

¹¹This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the Lord’s commands and statutes for Israel:^[n]

¹²Artaxerxes, king of kings,^(AQ) to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of heaven:

Greetings.

¹³I issue a decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who want to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.^(AR) ¹⁴You are sent by the king and his seven counselors^(AS) to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your possession. ¹⁵You are also to bring the silver and gold the king and his counselors have willingly given to the God of Israel,^(AT) whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,^(AU) ¹⁶and all the silver and gold you receive throughout the province of Babylon, together with the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.^(AV) ¹⁷Then you are to buy with this money as many bulls, rams, and lambs as needed, along with their grain and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem.^(AW) ¹⁸You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God. ¹⁹You must deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.^(AX) ²⁰You may use the royal treasury to pay for anything else needed for the house of your God.^(AY)

²¹I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the region west of the Euphrates River:^(AZ)

Whatever Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of heaven, asks of you must be provided promptly,^(BA) ²²up to 7,500 pounds^[o] of silver, 500 bushels^[p] of wheat, 550 gallons^[q] of wine, 550 gallons^[r] of oil, and salt without limit.^[s] ²³Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven, so that wrath will not fall on the realm of the king and his sons.^(BB) ²⁴Be advised that tribute, duty, and land tax must not be imposed on any priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵And you, Ezra, according to^[t] God’s wisdom that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region west of the Euphrates who know the laws of your God and to teach anyone who does not know them.^(BC) ²⁶Anyone who does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a fair judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.^(BD)

²⁷Praise Yahweh the God of our fathers, who has put it into the king’s mind^(BE) to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,^(BF) ²⁸and who has shown favor to me before the king,^(BG) his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by Yahweh my God,^[u]^(BH) and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.^(BI)

Those Returning with Ezra

8 These are the family leaders and the genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:^(BJ)

²Gershom, from Phinehas’s descendants;
Daniel, from Ithamar’s descendants;
Hattush, from David’s descendants,
³who was of Shecaniah’s descendants;^(BK)
Zechariah, from Parosh’s^(BL) descendants,
and 150 men^[v] with him who were registered by genealogy;
⁴Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah
from Pahath-moab’s descendants,^(BM)
and 200 men with him;
⁵Shecaniah^[w] son of Jahaziel
from Zattu’s descendants,
and 300 men with him;
⁶Ebed son of Jonathan
from Adin’s descendants,^(BN)
and 50 men with him;
⁷Jeshaiah son of Athaliah
from Elam’s descendants,
and 70 men with him;
⁸Zebadiah son of Michael
from Shephatiah’s descendants,
and 80 men with him;
⁹Obadiah son of Jehiel
from Joab’s descendants,
and 218 men with him;
¹⁰Shelomith^[x] son of Josiphiah
from Bani’s descendants,
and 160 men with him;
¹¹Zechariah son of Bebai
from Bebai’s descendants,
and 28 men with him;
¹²Johanan son of Hakkatan
from Azgad’s descendants,
and 110 men with him;
¹³these are the last ones, from Adonikam’s descendants,^(BO)
and their names are:
Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah,
and 60 men with them;
¹⁴Uthai and Zaccur^[y]
from Bigvai’s descendants,
and 70 men with them.

¹⁵I gathered them at the river^[z] that flows to Ahava,^(BP) and we camped there for three days. I searched among the people and priests, but found no Levites^(BQ) there. ¹⁶Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam,^(BR) as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan. ¹⁷I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for^[aa] him and his brothers, the temple servants^(BS) at Casiphia, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God. ¹⁸Since the gracious hand of our God was on us,^(BT) they brought us Sherebiah^(BU)—a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli, a descendant of Levi son of Israel—along with his sons and brothers, 18 men, ¹⁹plus Hashabiah,^(BV) along with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men. ²⁰There were also 220 of the temple servants,^(BW) who had been appointed by David and the leaders for the work of the Levites. All were identified by name.

Preparing to Return

²¹I proclaimed a fast^(BX) by the Ahava River,^[ab] so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions. ²²I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him.”^(BY) ²³So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and He granted our request.

²⁴I selected 12 of the leading priests, along with Sherebiah,^(BZ) Hashabiah, and 10 of their brothers. ²⁵I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles—the contribution for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites who were present had offered. ²⁶I weighed out to them 24 tons^[ac] of silver, silver articles weighing 7,500 pounds,^[ad] 7,500 pounds^[ae] of gold, ²⁷20 gold bowls worth 1,000 gold coins,^[af] and two articles of fine gleaming bronze, as valuable as gold.^(CA) ²⁸Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the articles are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering^(CB) to the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the Lord’s house before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families in Jerusalem.” ³⁰So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the articles that had been weighed out, to bring them to the house of our God in Jerusalem.^(CC)

Arrival in Jerusalem

³¹We set out from the Ahava River^[ag] on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. We were strengthened by our God,^[ah]^(CD) and He protected us from the power of the enemy and from ambush along the way.^(CE) ³²So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days.^(CF) ³³On the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the articles were weighed out in the house of our God into the care of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him. The Levites Jozabad^(CG) son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui were also with them. ³⁴Everything was verified by number and weight, and the total weight was recorded at that time.

³⁵The exiles who had returned from the captivity^(CH) offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, and 77 lambs, along with 12 male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering for the Lord.^(CI) ³⁶They also delivered the king’s edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates,^(CJ) so that they would support the people and the house of God.^(CK)

Footnotes

Ezra 6:1 Lit Babylon where the treasures were stored
Ezra 6:3 Lit be brought forth
Ezra 6:3 Lit 60 cubits
Ezra 6:3 Lit 60 cubits
Ezra 6:3 A copyist seemingly overlooked the term for length and inadvertently read the 60 cubits for height and width. Like Solomon’s temple, this temple was probably 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.
Ezra 6:4 Or huge
Ezra 6:5 Lit Jerusalem, to its place,
Ezra 6:6 Lit their
Ezra 6:12 Lit who stretches out its hand
Ezra 6:15 = February–March
Ezra 6:21 Lit land to them
Ezra 6:22 Lit their hands
Ezra 7:8 LXX, Syr, Vg read They
Ezra 7:11 Ezr 7:12-26 is written in Aram.
Ezra 7:22 Lit 100 talents
Ezra 7:22 Lit 100 cors
Ezra 7:22 Lit 100 baths
Ezra 7:22 Lit 100 baths
Ezra 7:22 Lit without instruction
Ezra 7:25 Lit to your
Ezra 7:28 Lit because the hand of the Lord my God was on me
Ezra 8:3 Or males; also in vv. 4-14
Ezra 8:5 LXX, 1 Esdras 8:32; MT reads the descendants of Shecaniah
Ezra 8:10 Some LXX mss, 1 Esdras 8:36; MT reads the descendants of Shelomith
Ezra 8:14 Alt Hb tradition, some LXX mss read Zabud
Ezra 8:15 Or canal
Ezra 8:17 Lit Casiphia, and I put in their mouth the words to speak to
Ezra 8:21 Or Canal
Ezra 8:26 Lit 650 talents
Ezra 8:26 Lit 100 talents
Ezra 8:26 Lit 100 talents
Ezra 8:27 Or 1,000 drachmas, or 1,000 darics
Ezra 8:31 Or Canal
Ezra 8:31 Lit The hand of our God was on us