The Daily Audio Bible

Ezra Proclaims a Fast

²¹ I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava to humble ourselves before our God in order to seek from him a safe journey for us, our children, and our possessions. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horses to protect us from enemies on the way because we said to the king, “the hand of our God is favorable to all who seek him, but his strength and anger are against all who forsake them.” ²³ So we fasted and sought our God for this and he responded to our prayer.

The Priests’ Gift for the Temple

²⁴ I set apart twelve of the official priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them. ²⁵ Then I weighed out to them silver and gold and the vessels, the offering of the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his commanders, and all of Israel who was present offered. ²⁶ I weighed out into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, one hundred vessels of silver, one hundred talents of gold, ²⁷ twenty gold bowls worth one thousand darics, and two vessels of good polished bronze as precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, “You are holy to Yahweh and the vessels are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, God of your ancestors.^{[a] 29} Guard and look after them until you weigh them before the chief priests, the Levites, and the heads of the families^[b] of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chamber of the house of Yahweh.” ³⁰ So the priests and Levites took over the weighed silver, gold, and the vessels to bring to Jerusalem for the house of our God.

Return to Jerusalem

³¹ On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the river of Ahava to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushing on the way. ³² We came to Jerusalem and remained there three days. ³³ On the fourth day, the silver, gold, and vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of priest Meremoth, the son of Uriah, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas. With them were the Levites, Jehozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. ³⁴ The amount and weight of all the weighed items was recorded at that time.

³⁵ The exiles that returned from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel; twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve goats as a sin offering. All was a burnt offering to Yahweh. ³⁶ They delivered the customs of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governor of the province Beyond the River. And they supported the people of the house of God.

Disdain Over Mixed Marriages

9 After finishing these things the officials approached me saying, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated from the people of the lands with their detestable things, and from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. ² For they have taken from their daughters for themselves and their sons. So the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the officials and prefects were foremost in this sin. ³ When I heard this I tore my garment and my robe, and I pulled the hair out from my head and beard, and I sat appalled. ⁴ Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel because of the sin of the returned exiles were gathered around me and I sat appalled until the evening offering.

Ezra Prays

⁵ At the evening offering I got up from my mourning posture and, with my garment and robe torn, I fell down on my knees and I spread out my palms to Yahweh my God ⁶ and said, “My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God. For our sins have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our ancestors^[c] until this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our sins we ourselves, our kings, and our priests have been handed into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to utter shame, as it is this day. ⁸ But now for a brief moment mercy has been shown by Yahweh our God, who left behind for us a remnant, and given us security in his holy place—for our God to brighten our eyes and to give us brief relief in our bondage. ⁹ For we are slaves and in our bondage our God did not forsake us, and he has extended to us loyal love in the presence of the kings of Persia, to give to us deliverance^[d] and to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judea and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “And now our God what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹ which you commanded by the hand of your servants the prophets saying, ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land of impurity with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their detestable things which they have filled from end to end with their uncleanness. ¹² Therefore, do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek their peace and prosperity so that forever you may be strong and eat the good of the land and may give it as an inheritance to your sons.’ ¹³ After all that has come upon us for our evil practices and for our great guilt—you, our God, have held back less than our guilt deserved and you have given us a remainder such as this. ¹⁴ Shall we again break your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who practice these detestable things? Would you not be angry with us until you destroy us with no remnant or remainder? ¹⁵ Yahweh, God of Israel, you are righteous, for we have been left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”

Immoral Behavior and Church Discipline

5 It is reported everywhere that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind which does not even exist among the Gentiles, so that someone has the wife of his father. ² And you are inflated with pride, and should you not rather have mourned, so that the one who has done this deed would be removed from your midst? ³ For although I^[a] am absent in body but present in spirit, I have already passed judgment on the one who has done this in this way, as if I^[b] were present. ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus, when^[c] you are assembled, and my spirit, together with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ I have decided^[d] to hand over such a person to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? ⁷ Clean out the old leaven in order that you may be a new batch of dough, just as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. ⁸ So then, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old leaven or with the leaven of wickedness and sinfulness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote to you in the letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. ¹⁰ By no means did I mean the sexually immoral people of this world or the greedy people and swindlers or idolaters, since then you would have to depart out of the world. ¹¹ But now I have written to you not to associate with any so-called brother, if he is a sexually immoral person or a greedy person or an idolater or an abusive person or a drunkard or a swindler—with such a person not even to eat. ¹² For what is it to me to judge those outside? Should you not judge those inside? ¹³ But those outside God will judge. Remove the evil person from among yourselves^[e].

Yahweh Is a Fortress

For the music director. A psalm of David.^[a]