Priests to Guard Offerings

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: ^(A)Sherebiah, ^(B)Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. ²⁵ And I weighed out to them the ^(C)silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his ^(D)counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. ^26 (E)I weighed out into their hand 650 talents^[a] of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents,^[b] and 100 talents of gold, ²⁷ 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics,^[c] and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, ^(F)“You are holy to the Lord, and ^(G)the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. ²⁹ Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, ^(H)within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites ^(I)took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

³¹ Then we departed from the river Ahava ^(J)on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. ^(K)The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. ^32 (L)We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. ³³ On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were ^(M)weighed into the hands of ^(N)Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, ^(O)Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of ^(P)Binnui. ³⁴ The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

³⁵ At that time ^(Q)those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, ^(R)twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ^36 (S)They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's ^(T)satraps^[d] and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.

Ezra Prays About Intermarriage

9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the ^(U)Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands ^(V)with their abominations, from the ^(W)Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ^2 (X)For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the ^(Y)holy race^[e] has ^(Z)mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” ³ As soon as I heard this, I ^(AA)tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and ^(AB)sat appalled. ⁴ Then all who ^(AC)trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat ^(AD)appalled until the evening sacrifice. ⁵ And at the ^(AE)evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment ^(AF)and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees ^(AG)and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, ⁶ saying:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities ^(AH)have risen higher than our heads, and our ^(AI)guilt has ^(AJ)mounted up to the heavens. ^7 (AK)From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great ^(AL)guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, ^(AM)and to utter shame, as it is today. ⁸ But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a ^(AN)remnant and to give us a ^(AO)secure hold^[f] within his holy place, that our God may ^(AP)brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. ^9 (AQ)For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, ^(AR)but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection^[g] in Judea and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹ which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with ^(AS)their uncleanness. ^12 (AT)Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land ^(AU)and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ ¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for ^(AV)our great guilt, seeing that you, our ^(AW)God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a ^(AX)remnant as this, ¹⁴ shall we break your commandments again and ^(AY)intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us ^(AZ)until you consumed us, so that there should be no ^(BA)remnant, nor any to escape? ¹⁵ O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a ^(BB)remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our ^(BC)guilt, ^(BD)for none can stand before you because of this.”

The People Confess Their Sin

10 ^(BE)While Ezra prayed and ^(BF)made confession, weeping and ^(BG)casting himself down ^(BH)before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. ² And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: ^(BI)“We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. ³ Therefore ^(BJ)let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and ^(BK)their children, according to the counsel of my lord^[h] and of ^(BL)those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done ^(BM)according to the Law. ⁴ Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; ^(BN)be strong and do it.” ⁵ Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel ^(BO)take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.

⁶ Then Ezra withdrew ^(BP)from before the house of God and went to the ^(BQ)chamber of ^(BR)Jehohanan the son of ^(BS)Eliashib, where he spent the night,^[i] neither ^(BT)eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. ⁷ And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, ⁸ and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.

⁹ Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the ^(BU)heavy rain. ¹⁰ And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. ¹¹ Now then ^(BV)make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. ^(BW)Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” ¹² Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said. ¹³ But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. ¹⁴ Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come ^(BX)at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, ^(BY)until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.” ¹⁵ Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and ^(BZ)Meshullam and ^(CA)Shabbethai the Levite supported them.

Paul Arrives at Rome

¹¹ After three months we set sail in ^(A)a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods^[a] as a figurehead. ¹² Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. ¹³ And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. ¹⁴ There we found ^(B)brothers^[b] and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵ And ^(C)the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, ^(D)Paul thanked God and took courage. ¹⁶ And when we came into Rome, ^(E)Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul in Rome

¹⁷ After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, ^(F)though I had done nothing against our people or ^(G)the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. ¹⁸ When they had examined me, they ^(H)wished to set me at liberty, ^(I)because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. ¹⁹ But because the Jews objected, I was compelled ^(J)to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against ^(K)my nation. ²⁰ For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is ^(L)because of ^(M)the hope of Israel that I am wearing ^(N)this ^(O)chain.” ²¹ And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of ^(P)the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. ²² But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this ^(Q)sect we know that everywhere ^(R)it is spoken against.”