Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem

7 Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes I [son of Ahasuerus (Xerxes)] king of Persia, Ezra the son (descendant) of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, ² the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, ³ the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, ⁴ the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, ⁵ the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest— ⁶ this Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law (the five books) of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him everything that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him. ⁷ Some of the sons of Israel, with some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants also went up [from Babylon] to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

⁸ Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king. ⁹ For on the first of the first month he started out from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he arrived in Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was on him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart (resolved) to study and interpret the Law of the Lord, and to practice it and teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

King’s Decree on Behalf of Ezra

¹¹ Now this is a copy of the decree that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe [who was] learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and of His statutes to Israel: ¹² “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, perfect peace (greetings). And now ¹³ I have issued a decree that all 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 For you are sent by the king and his seven advisers to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem in accordance with the Law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵ and to bring [with you] the silver and gold which the king and his advisers have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ and all the silver and gold which you find in the whole province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and of the priests for the house of their God in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Therefore with this money, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, you may do in accordance with the will of your God. ¹⁹ As for the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver [those] in full before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰ The rest of the things required for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to provide, provide it from the royal treasury.

²¹ “And I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the provinces ^[a]west of the [Euphrates] River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently and at once— ²² even up to 100 talents of silver, 100 kors (measures) of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of [olive] oil, and salt as needed. ²³ Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done diligently and with enthusiasm for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. ²⁴ We also inform you that it is not authorized to impose tax, tribute, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵ “You, Ezra, are to appoint magistrates and judges in accordance with the wisdom and instruction of your God which is in your hand, so that they may judge all the people who are in the province west of the [Euphrates] River; appoint those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who does not know them. ²⁶ Whoever does not observe and practice the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly and promptly, whether it be for death or banishment or confiscation of property or imprisonment.”

The King’s Kindness

²⁷ Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers [said Ezra], who put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to adorn and glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and has extended His mercy and lovingkindness to me before the king, his advisers, and all the king’s mighty officials. I was strengthened and encouraged, for the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered together outstanding men of Israel to go up with me [to Jerusalem].

People Who Went with Ezra

8 These are the heads of their fathers’ households and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes: ² of the ^[b]sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush; ³ of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men by genealogy; ⁴ of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, with 200 men; ⁵ of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, with 300 men; ⁶ of the sons of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, with 50 men; ⁷ of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, with 70 men; ⁸ of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, with 80 men; ⁹ of the sons of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, with 218 men; ¹⁰ of the sons of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, with 160 men; ¹¹ of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, with 28 men; ¹² of the sons of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, with 110 men; ¹³ of the sons of Adonikam, the last to come, their names are Eliphelet, ^[c]Jeiel, and Shemaiah, with 60 men; ¹⁴ and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and ^[d]Zabbud, with 70 men.

Ezra Sends for Levites

¹⁵ Now I gathered them together at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days. I observed the people and the priests, and I did not find any Levites there. ¹⁶ So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, [who were] leading men, and also for Joiarib and Elnathan, [who were] teachers. ¹⁷ And I sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring us servants (ministers) for the house of our God. ¹⁸ And as the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of understanding (insight) from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, named Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers (relatives), 18 men; ¹⁹ and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers (relatives) and their sons, 20 men; ²⁰ also 220 of the temple servants, whom David and the leaders had set apart [with their descendants] for the service of the Levites. They were all designated by name.

Protection of God Invoked

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, so that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our ^[e]children, and all our possessions. ²² For I was ashamed to request troops and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy along the way, because we had told the king, “The hand of our God is favorable toward all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon (turn away from) Him.” ²³ So we fasted and sought [help from] our God concerning this [matter], and He heard our plea.

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve leading priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers (relatives), ²⁵ and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the utensils, the offering for the house of our God which the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present there had offered. ²⁶ I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 talents of gold; ²⁷ also 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two utensils of fine ^[f]shiny bronze, precious as gold. ²⁸ Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, the utensils are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹ Guard and keep them until you weigh them before the leading priests and 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 received the weighed out silver and gold, and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹ We set out from the river Ahava on the twelfth [day] of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He rescued us from the hand of the enemy and those who lay in ambushes along the way. ³² So we came to Jerusalem and remained there for three days.

Treasure Placed in the Temple

³³ On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the utensils were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of 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 Every piece was counted and weighed, and all the weight was recorded at that time.

³⁵ Also the [former] exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and 12 male goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ³⁶ And they delivered the king’s edicts to the king’s satraps (lieutenants) and to the governors ^[g]west of the [Euphrates] River, and they supported the people and God’s house.

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 On one of the days, as Jesus was instructing the people in the temple [area] and preaching the good news (gospel), ^[a]the chief priests and the scribes along with the elders confronted Him,^{(A) 2} and said to Him, “Tell us by what kind of authority You are doing these things? Or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ Jesus replied, “I will also ask you a question. You tell Me: ⁴ The baptism of John [the Baptist]—was it from heaven [that is, ordained by God] or from men?” ⁵ They discussed and debated it 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, for they are firmly convinced that John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they replied that they did not know from where it came. ⁸ Then Jesus said to them, “Nor am I telling you by what [kind of] authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vineyard Owner

⁹ Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time [to another country].^{(B) 10} At harvest time he sent a servant [as his representative] to the tenants, so that they would give him his share of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ So he again sent another servant; they also beat him and dishonored and treated him disgracefully and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he sent yet a third; and this one too they wounded and threw out [of the vineyard]. ¹³ Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will have respect for him.’ ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves, saying, ‘This [man] is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and put these tenants to death and will give the vineyard to others.” When the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders heard this, they said, “May it never be!” ¹⁷ But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is [the meaning of] this that is written:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken and shattered in pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”^(D)

Tribute to Caesar

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests tried to [find a way to] arrest Him at that very hour, but they were afraid of the people; because they understood that He spoke this parable against them. ²⁰ So they watched [for a chance to trap] Him. They sent spies who pretended to be upright and sincere, in order that they might catch Him in some statement [that they could distort and use against Him], so that they could turn Him over to the control and authority of [Pilate] the governor.^{(E) 21} They asked Him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and that You show no partiality to anyone, but teach the way of God truthfully. ²² Is it lawful [according to Jewish law and tradition] for us to pay taxes (tribute money) to ^[b]Caesar or not?” ²³ But He saw through their trickery and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a [Roman] denarius. Whose image and inscription does the coin have?” They answered, “[the Emperor Tiberius] Caesar’s.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ They were not able to seize on anything He said in the presence of the people; and being unnerved at His reply, they were silent.

Is There a Resurrection?

²⁷ Now some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him^{(F) 28} and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us [a law that] if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife and no children, his brother should ^[c]marry the wife and raise children for his brother.^{(G) 29} Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless. ³⁰ And the second, ³¹ and the third married her, and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ So in the [life after] resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had married her.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “The sons of this [world and present] age marry and [the women] are given in marriage; ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to gain that [other world and that future] age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ and they cannot die again, because they are [immortal] like the angels (equal to, angel-like). And they are ^[d]children of God, being ^[e]participants in the resurrection. ³⁷ But [as for the fact] that the dead are raised [from death], even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.^{(H) 38} Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living [so these forefathers will be among the resurrected]; for all live [in a definite relationship] to Him.” ³⁹ Some of the scribes replied, “Teacher, you have spoken well [so that there is no room for blame].” ⁴⁰ And they did not dare to question Him further about anything [because of the wisdom He displayed in His answers].

⁴¹ Then He said to them, “How is it that people say that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is David’s son?^{(I) 42} For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

^44 [f]So David calls Him (the Son) ‘Lord,’ and how then is He David’s son?”

⁴⁵ And with all the people listening, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes [displaying their prominence], and love respectful greetings in the [crowded] market places, and ^[g]chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁷ These [men] who confiscate and devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense [to appear devout] offer long prayers. These [men] will receive the greater [sentence of] condemnation.”