The Arrival of Ezra

7 Now after these things, in the reign of ^(A)Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the ^(B)son of Seraiah, ^(C)the son of Azariah, the son of ^(D)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 came up from Babylon; and he was ^(E)a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, ^(F)according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. ^7 (G)Some of the children of Israel, the priests, ^(H)the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and ^(I)the Nethinim came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. ⁸ And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹ On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, ^(J)according to the good hand of his God upon him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had prepared his heart to ^(K)seek^[a] the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to ^(L)teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

The Letter of Artaxerxes to Ezra

¹¹ This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest, the scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of His statutes to Israel:

^27 (W)Blessed^[i] be the Lord God of our fathers, ^(X)who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and ^(Y)has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes.

So I was encouraged, as ^(Z)the hand of the Lord my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me.

Honor Masters

6 Let as many ^(A)bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed. ² And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.

Error and Greed

³ If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to ^(B)wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(C)and to the ^[a]doctrine which accords with godliness, ⁴ he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, ^5 [b]useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. ^[c]From ^(D)such withdraw yourself.

⁶ Now godliness with ^(E)contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into this world, ^[d]and it is ^(F)certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and clothing, with these we shall be ^(G)content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The Good Confession

¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus ^(H)who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, ¹⁵ which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only ^[e]Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, dwelling in ^(I)unapproachable light, ^(J)whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Instructions to the Rich

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain ^(K)riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things ^(L)to enjoy. ¹⁸ Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, ^19 (M)storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Guard the Faith

²⁰ O Timothy! ^(N)Guard what was committed to your trust, ^(O)avoiding the profane and ^[f]idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— ²¹ by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.

Grace be with you. Amen.

Servants for the Temple

¹⁵ Now I gathered them by the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And I looked among the people and the priests, and found none of the ^(A)sons of Levi there. ¹⁶ Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and ^(B)Meshullam, leaders; also for Joiarib and Elnathan, men of understanding. ¹⁷ And I gave them a command for Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia, and ^[a]I told them what they should say to ^[b]Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim at the place Casiphia—that they should bring us servants for the house of our God. ¹⁸ Then, by the good hand of our God upon us, they ^(C)brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men; ¹⁹ and ^(D)Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty men; ^20 (E)also of the Nethinim, whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim. All of them were designated by name.

Fasting and Prayer for Protection

²¹ Then I ^(F)proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might ^(G)humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the ^(H)right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. ²² For ^(I)I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, ^(J)“The hand of our God is upon all those for ^(K)good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are ^(L)against all those who ^(M)forsake Him.” ²³ So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He ^(N)answered our prayer.

Gifts for the Temple

²⁴ And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them— ²⁵ and weighed out to them ^(O)the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel who were present, had offered. ²⁶ I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articles weighing one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold, ²⁷ twenty gold basins worth a thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, “You are ^(P)holy^[c] to the Lord; the articles are ^(Q)holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹ Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and ^(R)heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

The Return to Jerusalem

³¹ Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And ^(S)the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road. ³² So we ^(T)came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

³³ Now on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the articles were ^(U)weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; with them were the Levites, ^(V)Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, ³⁴ with the number and weight of everything. All the weight was written down at that time.

³⁵ The children of those who had been ^(W)carried away captive, who had come from the captivity, ^(X)offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.

³⁶ And they delivered the king’s ^(Y)orders to the king’s satraps and the governors in the region beyond ^[d]the River. So they gave support to the people and the ^[e]house of God.

Animal Sacrifices Insufficient

10 For the law, having a ^(A)shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, ^(B)can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. ² For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once ^[a]purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. ³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For ^(C)it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

Christ’s Death Fulfills God’s Will^(D)

⁵ Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:

⁸ Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), ⁹ then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, ^[b]O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. ^10 (F)By that will we have been ^[c]sanctified ^(G)through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Christ’s Death Perfects the Sanctified

¹¹ And every priest stands ^(H)ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ^12 (I)But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down ^(J)at the right hand of God, ¹³ from that time waiting ^(K)till His enemies are made His footstool. ¹⁴ For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being ^[d]sanctified.

¹⁵ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

^16 (L)“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” ¹⁷ then He adds, ^(M)“Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” ¹⁸ Now where there is ^[e]remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.