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.

Servants of Christ

4 This is the way any person is to regard us: as ^(A)servants of Christ and ^(B)stewards of ^(C)the mysteries of God. ² In this case, moreover, it is required ^[a]of stewards that one be found trustworthy. ³ But to me it is an insignificant matter that I would be examined by you, or by any human ^[b]court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. ⁴ For I ^(D)am not aware of anything against myself; however I am not ^(E)vindicated by this, but the one who examines me is the Lord. ⁵ Therefore ^(F)do not go on ^[c]passing judgment before ^[d]the time, but wait ^(G)until the Lord comes, who will both ^(H)bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of human hearts; and then ^(I)praise will come to each person from God.

⁶ Now these things, brothers and sisters, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos on your account, so that in us you may learn not to exceed ^(J)what is written, so that no one of you will ^(K)become ^[e]arrogant ^(L)in behalf of one against the other. ⁷ For who considers you as superior? ^(M)What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸ You are ^(N)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For I think, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all as men ^(O)condemned to death, because we ^(P)have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to mankind. ¹⁰ We are ^(Q)fools on account of Christ, but ^(R)you are prudent in Christ! ^(S)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are without honor! ¹¹ Up to this present hour we are both ^(T)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless; ¹² and we labor, ^(U)working with our own hands; when we are ^(V)verbally abused, we bless; when we are ^(W)persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we ^[f]reply as friends; we have ^(X)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

¹⁴ I do not write these things to ^(Y)shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved ^(Z)children. ¹⁵ For if you were to have countless ^(AA)tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in ^(AB)Christ Jesus I ^(AC)became your father through the ^(AD)gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you, be ^(AE)imitators of me. ¹⁷ For this reason I ^(AF)have sent to you ^(AG)Timothy, who is my ^(AH)beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, ^(AI)just as I teach everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Now some have become ^[g](AJ)arrogant, as though I were not ^(AK)coming to you. ¹⁹ But I ^(AL)will come to you soon, ^(AM)if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the ^[h]words of those who are ^(AN)arrogant, but their power. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is ^(AO)not in ^[i]words, but in power. ²¹ What do you desire? ^(AP)That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.

A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David.