Psalm 84

New International Version

Psalm 84^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹How lovely is your dwelling place,^(A)
    Lord Almighty!
²My soul yearns,^(B) even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.^(C)
³Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,^(D)
    Lord Almighty,^(E) my King^(F) and my God.^(G)
⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.^[c]

⁵Blessed are those whose strength^(H) is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.^(I)
⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;^(J)
    the autumn^(K) rains also cover it with pools.^[d]
⁷They go from strength to strength,^(L)
    till each appears^(M) before God in Zion.^(N)

⁸Hear my prayer,^(O) Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹Look on our shield,^[e]^(P) O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.^(Q)

¹⁰Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper^(R) in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹For the Lord God is a sun^(S) and shield;^(T)
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold^(U)
    from those whose walk is blameless.

¹²Lord Almighty,
blessed^(V) is the one who trusts in you.

Footnotes

Psalm 84:1 In Hebrew texts 84:1-12 is numbered 84:2-13.
Psalm 84:1 Title: Probably a musical term
Psalm 84:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 8.
Psalm 84:6 Or blessings
Psalm 84:9 Or sovereign

Ezra 6:1-16

New International Version

The Decree of Darius

6 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives^(A) stored in the treasury at Babylon. ²A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:

Memorandum:

³In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:

Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid.^(B) It is to be sixty cubits^[a] high and sixty cubits wide, ⁴with three courses^(C) of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.^(D) ⁵Also, the gold^(E) and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.^(F)

⁶Now then, Tattenai,^(G) governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai^(H) and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. ⁷Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.

⁸Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:

Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury,^(I) from the revenues^(J) of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. ⁹Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings^(K) to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, ¹⁰so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.^(L)

¹¹Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled^(M) on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble.^(N) ¹²May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there,^(O) overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.

I Darius^(P) have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

Completion and Dedication of the Temple

¹³Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates^(Q) carried it out with diligence. ¹⁴So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching^(R) of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,^(S) Darius^(T) and Artaxerxes,^(U) kings of Persia. ¹⁵The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.^(V)

¹⁶Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication^(W) of the house of God with joy.

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Footnotes

Ezra 6:3 That is, about 90 feet or about 27 meters

Mark 11:15-19

New International Version

¹⁵On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’^[a]?^(A) But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’^[b]”^(B)

¹⁸The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him,^(C) because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.^(D)

¹⁹When evening came, Jesus and his disciples^[c] went out of the city.^(E)

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