End of the Babylonian Captivity^(A)

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord ^(B)by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, ^(C)so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

⁵ Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits ^(F)God ^[b]had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. ⁶ And all those who were around them ^[c]encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was ^(G)willingly offered.

^7 (H)King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, ^(I)which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the ^[d]temple of his gods; ⁸ and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to ^(J)Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. ⁹ This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, ¹⁰ thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. ¹¹ All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.

The Captives Who Returned to Jerusalem^(K)

2 Now ^(L)these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, ^(M)whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city.

² Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, ^[e]Seraiah, ^[f]Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, ^[g]Mispar, Bigvai, ^[h]Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: ³ the people of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two; ⁴ the people of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two; ⁵ the people of Arah, ^(N)seven hundred and seventy-five; ⁶ the people of ^(O)Pahath-Moab, of the people of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve; ⁷ the people of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; ⁸ the people of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five; ⁹ the people of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty; ¹⁰ the people of ^[i]Bani, six hundred and forty-two; ¹¹ the people of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three; ¹² the people of Azgad, one thousand two hundred and twenty-two; ¹³ the people of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-six; ¹⁴ the people of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty-six; ¹⁵ the people of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four; ¹⁶ the people of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety-eight; ¹⁷ the people of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three; ¹⁸ the people of ^[j]Jorah, one hundred and twelve; ¹⁹ the people of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three; ²⁰ the people of ^[k]Gibbar, ninety-five; ²¹ the people of Bethlehem, one hundred and twenty-three; ²² the men of Netophah, fifty-six; ²³ the men of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight; ²⁴ the people of ^[l]Azmaveth, forty-two; ²⁵ the people of ^[m]Kirjath Arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three; ²⁶ the people of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one; ²⁷ the men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two; ²⁸ the men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three; ²⁹ the people of Nebo, fifty-two; ³⁰ the people of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six; ³¹ the people of the other ^(P)Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; ³² the people of Harim, three hundred and twenty; ³³ the people of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five; ³⁴ the people of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five; ³⁵ the people of Senaah, three thousand six hundred and thirty.

³⁶ The priests: the sons of ^(Q)Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three; ³⁷ the sons of ^(R)Immer, one thousand and fifty-two; ³⁸ the sons of ^(S)Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven; ³⁹ the sons of ^(T)Harim, one thousand and seventeen.

⁴⁰ The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of ^[n]Hodaviah, seventy-four.

⁴¹ The singers: the sons of Asaph, one hundred and twenty-eight.

⁴² The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, one hundred and thirty-nine in all.

^43 (U)The Nethinim: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁴ the sons of Keros, the sons of ^[o]Siaha, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁵ the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, ⁴⁶ the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, the sons of Hanan, ⁴⁷ the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, ⁴⁸ the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, ⁴⁹ the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, ⁵⁰ the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of ^[p]Nephusim, ⁵¹ the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵² the sons of ^[q]Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵³ the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Tamah, ⁵⁴ the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁵ The sons of ^(V)Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of ^(W)Sophereth, the sons of ^[r]Peruda, ⁵⁶ the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁷ the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth of Zebaim, and the sons of ^[s]Ami. ⁵⁸ All the ^(X)Nethinim and the children of ^(Y)Solomon’s servants were three hundred and ninety-two.

⁵⁹ And these were the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, ^[t]Addan, and Immer; but they could not ^[u]identify their father’s house or their ^[v]genealogy, whether they were of Israel: ⁶⁰ the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, six hundred and fifty-two; ⁶¹ and of the sons of the priests: the sons of ^(Z)Habaiah, the sons of ^[w]Koz, and the sons of ^(AA)Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name. ⁶² These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found; ^(AB)therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled. ⁶³ And the ^[x]governor said to them that they ^(AC)should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could consult with the ^(AD)Urim and Thummim.

^64 (AE)The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, ⁶⁵ besides their male and female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred men and women singers. ⁶⁶ Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules two hundred and forty-five, ⁶⁷ their camels four hundred and thirty-five, and their donkeys six thousand seven hundred and twenty.

^68 (AF)Some of the heads of the fathers’ houses, when they came to the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God, to erect it in its place: ⁶⁹ According to their ability, they gave to the ^(AG)treasury for the work sixty-one thousand gold drachmas, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priestly garments.

^70 (AH)So the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah

4 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and ^(A)baptized more disciples than John ² (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), ³ He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. ⁴ But He needed to go through Samaria.

⁵ So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that ^(B)Jacob ^(C)gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

⁷ A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

⁹ Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For ^(D)Jews have no dealings with ^(E)Samaritans.

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the ^(F)gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you ^(G)living water.”

¹¹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? ¹² Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but ^(H)whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him ^(I)will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

^15 (J)The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

¹⁷ The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

¹⁹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, ^(K)I perceive that You are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on ^(L)this mountain, and you Jews say that in ^(M)Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming ^(N)when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² You worship ^(O)what you do not know; we know what we worship, for ^(P)salvation is of the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will ^(Q)worship the Father in ^(R)spirit ^(S)and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. ^24 (T)God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

²⁵ The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah ^(U)is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, ^(V)He will tell us all things.”

²⁶ Jesus said to her, ^(W)“I who speak to you am He.”

The Whitened Harvest

²⁷ And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

²⁸ The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ²⁹ “Come, see a Man ^(X)who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” ³⁰ Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

³¹ In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

³² But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

³³ Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, ^(Y)“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to ^(Z)finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes ^(AA)the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, ^(AB)for they are already white for harvest! ^36 (AC)And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that ^(AD)both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this the saying is true: ^(AE)‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; ^(AF)others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

The Savior of the World

³⁹ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him ^(AG)because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of His own ^(AH)word.

⁴² Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for ^(AI)we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed ^[a]the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Welcome at Galilee

⁴³ Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. ⁴⁴ For ^(AJ)Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵ So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, ^(AK)having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; ^(AL)for they also had gone to the feast.

A Nobleman’s Son Healed

⁴⁶ So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee ^(AM)where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain ^[b]nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, ^(AN)“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”

⁴⁹ The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. ⁵¹ And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”

⁵² Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.

⁵⁴ This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

The Blessedness of Dwelling in the House of God

To the Chief Musician. ^(A)On^[a] an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

Prayer that the Lord Will Restore Favor to the Land

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm ^(A)of the sons of Korah.