Ezra 1

New American Standard Bible

Cyrus’ Proclamation

1 ^(A)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he ^(B)sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

²“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and ^(C)He has appointed me to rebuild for Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! ^[a]Go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; ^(D)He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴And every survivor, at whatever place he may ^[b]live, the people of ^[c]that place are to support him with silver and gold, with equipment and cattle, together with a ^[d]voluntary offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

Holy Vessels Restored

⁵Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, ^(E)everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. ⁶And all of those around them ^[e]^(F)encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with equipment, cattle, and with valuables, aside from everything that was given as a ^[f]voluntary offering. ⁷^(G)Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, ^(H)which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; ⁸and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to ^(I)Sheshbazzar, the leader of Judah. ⁹Now this was their number: thirty ^(J)gold dishes, a thousand silver dishes, twenty nine ^[g]duplicates; ¹⁰thirty gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind, and a thousand other articles. ¹¹All the articles of gold and silver totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

Ezra 1:3 Lit he is to go up
Ezra 1:4 Or reside as a stranger
Ezra 1:4 Lit his
Ezra 1:4 Or freewill offering
Ezra 1:6 Lit strengthened their hands
Ezra 1:6 Or freewill offering
Ezra 1:9 Heb obscure; other possible meanings are knives, censers

Proverbs 26:17-22

New American Standard Bible

¹⁷Like one who takes a dog by the ears,
So is one who passes by and ^[a]meddles with ^(A)strife not belonging to him.
¹⁸Like a maniac who shoots
^(B)Flaming arrows, arrows, and death,
¹⁹So is a person who ^(C)deceives his neighbor,
And says, “^(D)Was I not joking?”
²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out,
And where there is no ^(E)gossiper, ^(F)quarreling quiets down.
²¹Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
So is a ^(G)contentious person to kindle strife.
²²The ^(H)words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the ^[b]innermost parts of the body.

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Footnotes

Proverbs 26:17 Lit infuriates himself
Proverbs 26:22 Lit chambers of the belly

1 Peter 4

New American Standard Bible

Keep Fervent in Your Love

4 Therefore, since ^(A)Christ has ^[a]suffered in the flesh, ^(B)arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because ^(C)the one who has ^[b]suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ²^(D)so as to live ^(E)the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human lusts, but for the ^(F)will of God. ³For ^(G)the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, ^[c]^(H)having pursued a course of indecent behavior, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries. ⁴In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them in the same excesses of ^(I)^[d]debauchery, and they ^(J)slander you; ⁵but they will give an account to Him who is ready to judge ^(K)the living and the dead. ⁶For ^(L)the gospel has for this purpose been ^[e]preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as people, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.

⁷^(M)The end of all things ^[f]is near; therefore, ^(N)be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of ^[g]prayer. ⁸Above all, ^(O)keep fervent in your love for one another, because ^(P)love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹^(Q)Be hospitable to one another without ^(R)complaint. ¹⁰^(S)As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good ^(T)stewards of the ^[h]multifaceted grace of God. ¹¹^(U)Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking ^(V)actual words of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving ^[i]^(W)by the strength which God supplies; so that ^(X)in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, ^(Y)to whom belongs the glory and ^[j]dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Share the Sufferings of Christ

¹²^(Z)Beloved, do not be surprised at the ^(AA)fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though something strange were happening to you; ¹³but to the degree that you ^(AB)share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the ^(AC)revelation of His glory ^(AD)you may also rejoice and be overjoyed. ¹⁴If you are insulted ^[k]^(AE)for the name of Christ, ^(AF)you are blessed, ^(AG)because the Spirit of glory, and of God, rests upon you. ¹⁵Make sure that ^(AH)none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a ^[l]^(AI)troublesome meddler; ¹⁶but if anyone suffers as a ^(AJ)Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to ^(AK)glorify God in this name. ¹⁷For it is time for judgment ^(AL)to begin ^[m]with ^(AM)the household of God; and if it ^(AN)begins ^[n]with us first, what will be the outcome for those ^(AO)who do not obey the ^(AP)gospel of God? ¹⁸^(AQ)And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, ^[o]what will become of the ^(AR)godless man and the sinner? ¹⁹Therefore, those also who suffer according to ^(AS)the will of God are to entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.