¹² may it be 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 finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.^(A)

⁹ Then we spoke to those elders and asked them, ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’^(A)

³ At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?”^(A)

¹³ He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel.^(A)

¹³ For the Lord’s sake be subject to every human authority,^[a] whether to the emperor as supreme^{(A) 14} or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. ¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish.

²² abstain from every form of evil.

⁵ We have, in fact, found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.^[a](A)

² They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man inciting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”^{[a](A) 3} Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.”^{(B) 4} Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.”^{(C) 5} But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.”

³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!^(A)

²⁵ Know therefore and understand: from the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks, and for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with streets and moat, but in a troubled time.^(A)