Rebuilding the Altar

3 ^(A)When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. ² Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and ^(B)Zerubbabel the son of ^(C)Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, ^(D)as it is written in the Law of Moses the ^(E)man of God. ³ They set the altar in its place, ^(F)for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and ^(G)they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. ^4 (H)And they kept the Feast of Booths, ^(I)as it is written, ^(J)and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, ⁵ and after that the regular burnt ^(K)offerings, the offerings at the new moon ^(L)and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. ⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. ⁷ So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, ^(M)and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians ^(N)to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, ^(O)according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Rebuilding the Temple

⁸ Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, ^(P)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and ^(Q)Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They ^(R)appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to ^(S)supervise the work of the house of the Lord. ⁹ And ^(T)Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together ^(U)supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the ^(V)sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

¹⁰ And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, ^(W)according to the directions of David king of Israel. ¹¹ And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, ^(Y)old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, ¹³ so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding

4 Now when ^(Z)the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever ^(AA)since the days of ^(AB)Esarhaddon king of Assyria ^(AC)who brought us here.” ³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, ^(AD)“You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(AE)as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴ Then ^(AF)the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build ⁵ and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶ And in the reign of ^(AG)Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

⁷ In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and ^(AH)Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written ^(AI)in Aramaic and translated.^{[a] 8} Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: ⁹ Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the ^(AJ)judges, the ^(AK)governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the ^(AL)Elamites, ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble ^(AM)Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. ¹¹ (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now ¹² be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are ^(AN)finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³ Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay ^(AO)tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. ¹⁴ Now because we eat the salt of the palace^[b] and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, ¹⁵ in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

The King Orders the Work to Cease

¹⁷ The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now ¹⁸ the letter that you sent to us has been ^(AP)plainly read before me. ¹⁹ And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. ²⁰ And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, ^(AQ)who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom ^(AR)tribute, custom, and toll were paid. ²¹ Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. ²² And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

²³ Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. ²⁴ Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Rebuilding Begins Anew

5 Now the prophets, ^(AS)Haggai and ^(AT)Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. ^2 (AU)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and ^(AV)Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were ^(AW)with them, supporting them.

³ At the same time ^(AX)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: ^(AY)“Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” ⁴ They also asked them this:^[c] “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” ⁵ But ^(AZ)the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

Tattenai's Letter to King Darius

⁶ This is a copy of the letter that ^(BA)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the ^(BB)governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. ⁷ They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸ Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. ⁹ Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ^(BC)‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ ¹⁰ We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.^{[d] 11} And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, ^(BD)which a great king of Israel built and ^(BE)finished. ^12 (BF)But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he ^(BG)gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. ^13 (BH)However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. ^14 (BI)And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was ^(BJ)Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; ¹⁵ and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” ¹⁶ Then this ^(BK)Sheshbazzar came and ^(BL)laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is ^(BM)not yet finished.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, if it seems good to the king, ^(BN)let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

Spiritual Gifts

12 Now ^(A)concerning^[a] spiritual gifts,^[b] brothers,^[c] I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that ^(B)when you were pagans ^(C)you were led astray to ^(D)mute idols, however you were led. ³ Therefore I want you to understand that ^(E)no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is ^(F)accursed!” and ^(G)no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

⁴ Now ^(H)there are varieties of gifts, but ^(I)the same Spirit; ⁵ and ^(J)there are varieties of service, but ^(K)the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is ^(L)the same God who empowers them all in everyone. ^7 (M)To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of ^(N)wisdom, and to another the utterance of ^(O)knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another ^(P)faith by the same Spirit, to another ^(Q)gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another ^(R)the working of miracles, to another ^(S)prophecy, to another ^(T)the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another ^(U)various kinds of tongues, to another ^(V)the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, ^(W)who apportions to each one individually ^(X)as he wills.

One Body with Many Members

¹² For just as ^(Y)the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, ^(Z)so it is with Christ. ¹³ For ^(AA)in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—^(AB)Jews or Greeks, slaves^[d] or free—and ^(AC)all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, ^(AD)God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, ^(AE)as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts,^[e] yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, ^(AF)all rejoice together.

²⁷ Now ^(AG)you are the body of Christ and individually ^(AH)members of it. ²⁸ And ^(AI)God has appointed in the church first ^(AJ)apostles, second ^(AK)prophets, third teachers, then ^(AL)miracles, then ^(AM)gifts of healing, ^(AN)helping, ^(AO)administrating, and ^(AP)various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But ^(AQ)earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.