Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem

7 ^(A)Now after these things, in the reign of ^(B)Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra went up to Jerusalem; Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, ² son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ³ son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, ⁴ son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵ son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest. ⁶ So this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ^(C)scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all ^[a]he requested ^(D)because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him. ^7 (E)Some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

⁸ And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹ For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, ^(F)because the good hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had ^[b]firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and ^(G)to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

King’s Decree on Behalf of Ezra

¹¹ Now this is the copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, ^[c]learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel: ¹² “^[d]Artaxerxes, ^(H)king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, ^[e]perfect peace. And now ^13 (I)I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. ¹⁴ Since you are sent ^[f]on the part of the king and his ^(J)seven advisers to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God which is in your hand, ¹⁵ and to bring the silver and gold, which the king and his advisers have voluntarily given to the God of Israel, ^(K)whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ with ^(L)all the silver and gold which you find in the entire province of Babylon, along ^(M)with the ^[g]voluntary offering of the people and of the priests, who ^(N)offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; ¹⁷ with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams, and lambs, ^(O)with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and ^(P)offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. ¹⁹ Also the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰ And the rest of the needs of the house of your God, for which it may be incumbent upon you to provide, ^(Q)provide for them from the royal treasury.

²¹ “I myself, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, that whatever Ezra the priest, ^(R)the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently, ²² up to ^[h]a hundred talents of silver, ^[i]a hundred kors of wheat, ^[j]a hundred baths of wine, ^[k]a hundred baths of anointing oil, and salt ^[l]as needed. ²³ Whatever is ^[m]commanded by the God of heaven, it shall be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, ^(S)so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. ²⁴ We also inform you that ^(T)it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute, or toll ^(U)on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵ “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, ^(V)appoint magistrates and judges so that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the Euphrates River, that is, all those who know the laws of your God; and you may ^(W)teach anyone who is ignorant of them. ²⁶ And ^(X)whoever does not comply with the Law of your God and the law of the king, judgment is to be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment, or for ^[n]confiscation of property or for imprisonment.”

The King’s Kindness

²⁷ Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, ^(Y)who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to glorify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and ^(Z)has extended favor to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty officials. So I was strengthened according to ^(AA)the hand of the Lord my God that was upon me, and I gathered ^[o]leading men from Israel to go up with me.

People Who Went with Ezra

8 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes: ² of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, ^(AB)Hattush; ³ of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of ^(AC)Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list; ⁴ of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and two hundred males with him; ⁵ of the sons of ^[p]Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and three hundred males with him; ⁶ and of the sons of ^(AD)Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and fifty males with him; ⁷ and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and seventy males with him; ⁸ and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and eighty males with him; ⁹ of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 males with him; ¹⁰ and of the sons of ^[q]Bani, Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah and 160 males with him; ¹¹ and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai and twenty-eight males with him; ¹² and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 males with him; ¹³ and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these being their names: Eliphelet, ^[r]Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and sixty males with them; ¹⁴ and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and ^[s]Zabbud, and seventy males with ^[t]them.

Ezra Sends for Levites

¹⁵ Now I assembled them at ^(AE)the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days; and when I paid close attention to the people and the priests, I ^(AF)did not find any Levites there. ¹⁶ So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, ^[u]leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers. ¹⁷ And I sent them to Iddo the ^[v]leading man at the place called Casiphia; and I ^[w]told them what to say to ^[x]Iddo and his brothers, ^(AG)the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God. ^18 (AH)And as the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a ^(AI)man of insight from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, eighteen men; ¹⁹ and Hashabiah and ^[y]Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, twenty men; ²⁰ and 220 of ^(AJ)the temple servants, whom David and the officials had provided for the service of the Levites, all of them designated by name.

Protection of God Invoked

²¹ Then I proclaimed ^(AK)a fast there at ^(AL)the river of Ahava, to ^(AM)humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a ^[z]safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. ²² For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to ^[aa]protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “^(AN)The hand of our God is ^[ab]favorably disposed to all who seek Him, but ^(AO)His power and His anger are against all those who ^(AP)abandon Him.” ²³ So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He ^[ac](AQ)listened to our pleading.

²⁴ Then I selected twelve of the leading priests: ^(AR)Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers; ²⁵ and I ^(AS)weighed out to them ^(AT)the silver, the gold, and the utensils, the offering for the house of our God which the king, ^(AU)his counselors, his officials, and all Israel who were present there had contributed. ^26 (AV)So I weighed into their hands ^[ad]650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth ^[ae]a hundred talents, and a hundred gold talents, ²⁷ and twenty gold bowls worth a thousand ^[af]darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold. ²⁸ Then I said to them, “^(AW)You are holy to the Lord, and the ^(AX)utensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a ^[ag]voluntary offering to the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹ Watch and keep them ^(AY)until you weigh them before the leading priests, the Levites, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites ^(AZ)accepted the weight of silver and gold and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹ Then we journeyed from ^(BA)the river Ahava on ^(BB)the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and ^(BC)the hand of our God was upon us, and He rescued us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the road. ^32 (BD)So we came to Jerusalem and remained there for three days.

Treasure Placed in the Temple

³³ And on the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the utensils ^(BE)were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of ^(BF)Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. ³⁴ A notation was made for everything by number and weight, and all the weight was recorded at that time.

^35 (BG)The exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: ^(BH)twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to the Lord. ³⁶ Then ^(BI)they delivered the king’s edicts to ^(BJ)the king’s satraps and the governors in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and they supported the people and the house of God.

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 ^(A)On one of the days while ^(B)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(C)preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(D)confronted Him, ² and they declared, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ But He replied to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a ^(E)prophet.” ⁷ And so they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-growers

^9 (F)But He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to ^[b]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; but they beat him also and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; but this one too they wounded and threw out. ¹³ Now the ^[c]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What am I to do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^(G)respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine-growers saw him, they discussed with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ And so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^[d]owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and ^(H)put these vine-growers to death, and will give the vineyard to others.” However, when they heard this, they said, “^(I)May it never happen!” ¹⁷ But ^[e]Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what is this statement that has been written:

^18 (L)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests ^(M)tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and yet they feared the people; for they were aware that He had spoken this parable against them. ^20 (N)And so they watched Him ^[g]closely, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order ^(O)that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could hand Him over to the jurisdiction and authority of ^(P)the governor. ²¹ And the spies questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ^[h]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God on the basis of truth. ²² Is it ^[i]permissible for us ^(Q)to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But He saw through their trickery and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a ^[j]denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then ^(R)pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were unable to ^(S)catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people; and they were amazed at His answer, and said nothing.

Is There a Resurrection?

^27 (T)Now some of the ^(U)Sadducees (who maintain that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸ and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(V)if ^[k]a man’s brother dies, ^[l]leaving a wife, and he is childless, that his brother is to ^[m]marry the wife and raise up children ^[n]for his brother. ²⁹ So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; ³⁰ and the second ³¹ and the third ^[o]married her; and in the same way ^[p]all seven ^[q]died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ Therefore, in the resurrection, ^[r]which one’s wife does the woman become? For ^[s]all seven ^[t]married her.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^(W)this age marry and the women are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^(X)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ for they cannot even die anymore, for they are like angels, and are ^(Y)sons of God, being ^[u]sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But as for the fact that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed this in ^(Z)the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord ^(AA)the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ^38 (AB)Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for ^(AC)all live to Him.” ³⁹ Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For ^(AD)they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about anything.

^41 (AE)But He said to them, “How is it that they say the ^[v]Christ is ^(AF)David’s son? ⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and so how is He his son?”

^45 (AI)And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, ^(AJ)who like to walk around in long robes, and love personal greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷ who ^[w]devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”