8 But God remembered^(A) Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,^(B) and the waters receded. ² Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens^(C) had been closed, and the rain^(D) had stopped falling from the sky. ³ The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days^(E) the water had gone down, ⁴ and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month^(F) the ark came to rest on the mountains^(G) of Ararat.^{(H) 5} The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ After forty days^(I) Noah opened a window he had made in the ark ⁷ and sent out a raven,^(J) and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.^{(K) 8} Then he sent out a dove^(L) to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. ⁹ But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. ¹⁰ He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.^{(M) 12} He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

¹³ By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year,^(N) the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month^(O) the earth was completely dry.

¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.^{(P) 17} Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”^(Q)

¹⁸ So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.^{(R) 19} All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord^(S) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean^(T) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings^(U) on it. ²¹ The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma^(V) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground^(W) because of humans, even though^[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.^(X) And never again will I destroy^(Y) all living creatures,^(Z) as I have done.

List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra

8 These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:^(A)

The Return to Jerusalem

¹⁵ I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava,^(G) and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites^(H) there. ¹⁶ So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, ¹⁷ and I ordered them to go to Iddo, the leader in Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his fellow Levites, the temple servants^(I) in Kasiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God. ¹⁸ Because the gracious hand of our God was on us,^(J) they brought us Sherebiah,^(K) a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 in all; ¹⁹ and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 in all. ²⁰ They also brought 220 of the temple servants^(L)—a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.

²¹ There, by the Ahava Canal,^(M) I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey^(N) for us and our children, with all our possessions. ²² I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers^(O) and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone^(P) who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.^(Q)” ²³ So we fasted^(R) and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, namely, Sherebiah,^(S) Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, ²⁵ and I weighed out^(T) to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. ²⁶ I weighed out to them 650 talents^[c] of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents,^[d] 100 talents^[e] of gold, ²⁷ 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics,^[f] and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.

²⁸ I said to them, “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the Lord.^(U) The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. ²⁹ Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel.” ³⁰ Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

³¹ On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal^(V) to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us,^(W) and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. ³² So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days.^(X)

³³ On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out^(Y) the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth^(Z) son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad^(AA) son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.^{(AB) 34} Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time.

³⁵ Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls^(AC) for all Israel,^(AD) ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs and, as a sin offering,^[g] twelve male goats.^(AE) All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ³⁶ They also delivered the king’s orders^(AF) to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates,^(AG) who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God.^(AH)

Giving to the Needy

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.^(A) If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

² “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.^(B)

Prayer^(C)

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing^(D) in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father,^(E) who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling^(F) like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.^{(G) 8} Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need^(H) before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.^{(P) 15} But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.^(Q)

Fasting

¹⁶ “When you fast,^(R) do not look somber^(S) as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.^(T)

Treasures in Heaven^(U)

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,^(V) where moths and vermin destroy,^(W) and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,^(X) where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.^{(Y) 21} For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.^(Z)

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,^[c] your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are unhealthy,^[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.^(AA)

Do Not Worry^(AB)

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry^(AC) about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.^(AD) Are you not much more valuable than they?^{(AE) 27} Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?^(AF)

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor^(AG) was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?^{(AH) 31} So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.^{(AI) 33} But seek first his kingdom^(AJ) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.^{(AK) 34} Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.