Old/New Testament

Cyrus’ Book Found

6 Then King Darius had men look through the books which were kept in Babylon. ² And in Ecbatana, the most important city in the land of Media, a book was found in which was written: ³ “In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king said that this was to be done about the house of God at Jerusalem: ‘Let the house of God, the place where burnt gifts are given in worship, be built again with a good base. It should be sixteen times taller than a man, and as wide as thirty long steps. ⁴ There should be three very large stones laid on the top of each other, and then one large piece of wood laid. Let it be paid for from the king’s money. ⁵ Let the gold and silver objects which Nebuchadnezzar took from the house of God in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be returned to their places in the house of God in Jerusalem. You must put them in the house of God.’

⁶ “So now, Tattenai, leader over the land on the other side of the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your friends who are leaders in the lands on the other side of the River, stay away from there. ⁷ Leave this work on the house of God alone. Let the leaders of the Jews build this house of God again where it stood before. ⁸ Also, I am making it known what you are to do for these leaders of Judah for the building of this house of God. All of it is to be paid for from the king’s money out of the taxes from the lands on the other side of the River. And waste no time to get it to them. ⁹ Be sure to give them each day whatever is needed, young bulls, rams and lambs for a burnt gift to the God of heaven, and grain, salt, wine, and oil for pouring. ¹⁰ This is so they may give pleasing gifts in worship to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹ I here make it known that if anyone does not do what I say, a piece of wood will be taken from his house and he will be nailed on it. And his house will become a place to gather waste. ¹² May the God Who has caused His name to be there take away the power of any king or people who will try to change what I have said, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have told this to you. Let it be done with much care.”

The House of God Is Set Apart for Use

¹³ Then Tattenai, the leader over the land on the other side of the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their friends obeyed the words of the king with much care, just as King Darius had told them. ¹⁴ The leaders of the Jews did well in building, through the words spoken by Haggai the man who spoke for God and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished building as they had been told to do by the God of Israel, and by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. ¹⁵ The house of God was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the rule of King Darius.

¹⁶ The people of Israel, the religious leaders, the Levites, and the rest of the people who returned from Babylon, set apart this house of God with joy. ¹⁷ To set apart this house of God they gave 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs. For a sin gift for all Israel they gave twelve male goats, one for each number of the families of Israel. ¹⁸ Then they put the religious leaders and the Levites into groups by the work they were to do for God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

The Passover

¹⁹ The people who had returned from Babylon kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²⁰ For the religious leaders and the Levites had made themselves holy together. All of them were clean. Then they killed the Passover lamb for all the people, for their brothers the religious leaders, and for themselves. ²¹ It was eaten by the people of Israel who returned from Babylon and all those who had separated themselves from the sin of the nations of the land to join them and to look for the Lord God of Israel. ²² They kept the Special Supper of Bread Without Yeast for seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them very happy. He had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to give them strength in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra Comes to Jerusalem

7 Now after this, during the rule of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra went up from Babylon. Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, ² son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ³ son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, ⁴ son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵ son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the head religious leader. ⁶ This Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a writer who knew well the Law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king gave him everything he asked for, because the Lord his God was good to him. ⁷ Some of the sons of Israel and some of the religious leaders, the Levites, the singers, the gate-keepers and the servants of the house of God went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. ⁸ Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month in the seventh year of the king. ⁹ He left Babylon on the first day of the first month, and came to Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, because the good hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to learn the Law of the Lord, to live by it, and to teach His Laws in Israel.

¹¹ This is what was written in the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the religious leader, the writer, who had much learning in the Laws of the Lord and His Laws for Israel: ¹² “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the religious leader, the writer who knows the Law of the God of heaven: Peace. And now ¹³ I let it be known that if there are any people of Israel, religious leaders or Levites in my nation who are willing to go to Jerusalem, they may go with you. ¹⁴ For you are sent by the king and his seven men of wisdom to see if the Law of your God which is in your hand is being obeyed in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Take the silver and gold which the king and his men of wisdom have given because they wanted to give to the God of Israel, Whose house is in Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Take this with all the silver and gold you will find in the whole land of Babylon. And take the gifts of the people and of the religious leaders, who have given because they have wanted to for the house of their God in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ With this money, buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain gifts and their drink gifts. And give them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Whatever you and your brothers think is best to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, if it is the will of your God. ¹⁹ Also take to the God of Jerusalem all the objects given to you for the work of the house of your God. ²⁰ Whatever else is needed for the house of your God, you may take it from the king’s store-house. ²¹ I, King Artaxerxes, here make this known to all those who take care of the money in the lands on the other side of the River. You should be ready and willing to give Ezra, the religious leader and writer who knows the Law of the God of heaven, whatever he needs. ²² Give silver weighing up to as much as 100 men, and as much as 1,000 baskets of grain, 1,100 jars of wine, 1,100 jars of oil, and as much salt as is needed. ²³ Whatever is wanted by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven. Or else He might be angry with the nation of the king and his sons. ²⁴ We also let you know that it is not allowed to take any taxes from any of the religious leaders, Levites, singers, door-keepers, or servants of this house of God. ²⁵ And you, Ezra, use the wisdom of your God which is in your hand to choose leaders and judges. They are to judge all the people in the land on the other side of the River, all those who know the Laws of your God. You may teach anyone who does not know them. ²⁶ Whoever will not obey the Law of your God and the law of the king, let his punishment be hard. Put him to death, or send him out of the land, or take what he has, or put him in prison.”

Ezra Gives Praise to God

²⁷ Honor and thanks be to the Lord, the God of our fathers, Who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to make the house of the Lord in Jerusalem beautiful. ²⁸ He has shown loving-kindness to me in front of the king and his wise men, and in front of all the king’s powerful leaders. I was given strength, because the hand of the Lord my God was upon me. And I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

Families Who Returned

8 These are the leaders of family groups and the family names of those who went up with me from Babylon during the rule of King Artaxerxes: ² there was Gershom of the sons of Phinehas, Daniel of the sons of Ithamar, and from the house of David, Hattush, ³ the son of Shecaniah. There was Zechariah of the sons of Parosh, and with him were 150 men whose family names were written down. ⁴ Of the sons of Pahath-moab, there was Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and 200 men with him. ⁵ Of the sons of Zattu, there was Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and 300 men with him. ⁶ Of the sons of Adin, there was Ebed the son of Jonathan, and fifty men with him. ⁷ Of the sons of Elam, there was Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and seventy men with him. ⁸ Of the sons of Shephatiah, there was Zebadiah the son of Michael, and eighty men with him. ⁹ Of the sons of Joab, there was Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and 218 men with him. ¹⁰ Of the sons of Shelomith there was the son of Josiphiah, and 160 men with him. ¹¹ Of the sons of Bebai, there was Zechariah the son of Bebai, and twenty-eight men with him. ¹² Of the sons of Azgad, there was Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and 110 men with him. ¹³ Of the sons of Adonikam, the last to come, there were Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and sixty men with them. ¹⁴ Of the sons of Bigvai, there were Uthai and Zabbud, and seventy men with them.

Ezra Finds Levites for the House of God

¹⁵ I gathered them at the river that flows to Ahava, where we had our camp for three days. When I saw the people and the religious leaders, I did not find any Levites there. ¹⁶ So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers. ¹⁷ I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his brothers, servants in the house of worship at Casiphia. They were to bring men to us to care for the house of our God. ¹⁸ And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of wisdom, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. His name is Sherebiah, and with him came his sons and brothers, eighteen men. ¹⁹ They also brought Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the sons of Morari, with his brothers and their sons, twenty men. ²⁰ They brought 220 men to work in the house of God, whom David and the leaders had chosen to help the Levites. All of them were chosen by name.

The People Pray

²¹ Then I set apart a time there at the river of Ahava when we would not eat any food. This was so we might put away our pride before our God, and pray that He would keep us and our children and all our things safe as we traveled. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to keep us safe from those who hate us on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God brings good to all who look for Him. But His power and His anger are against all who turn away from Him.” ²³ So we did not eat, and prayed to God about this. And He listened to our prayer.

Gifts for the House of God

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the head religious leaders: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers. ²⁵ And I weighed and gave to them the silver, the gold and the dishes and objects, which had been given for the house of our God by the king and his wise men and leaders, and all the people of Israel who were there. ²⁶ I gave them silver weighing as much as 650 men, silver dishes and objects weighing as much as 100 men, and gold weighing as much as 100 men. ²⁷ I gave them twenty deep, gold dishes, worth 1,000 gold-pieces, and two pots of fine shining brass, worth as much as gold. ²⁸ Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and these objects are holy. The silver and the gold are a free-will gift to the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹ Watch and keep them until you weigh them in front of the head religious leaders, the Levites, and the heads of the family groups of Israel at Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the religious leaders and the Levites took the weight of silver and gold and objects, to bring them to the house of our God at Jerusalem.

³¹ Then we left the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. And God helped us and kept us safe from those who hated us and from those who hid waiting to fight us on the way. ³² We came to Jerusalem and stayed there for three days. ³³ On the fourth day the silver and gold and objects were weighed in the house of our God and given to Meremoth the son of Uriah the religious leader. With him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas. And with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. ³⁴ Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was written down.

³⁵ The people who had returned from Babylon gave burnt gifts in worship to the God of Israel. They gave 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and 12 male goats for a sin gift. All this was a burnt gift to the Lord. ³⁶ Then they let the king’s rulers and leaders in the lands on the other side of the River know what the king said for them to do. And they helped the people and the house of God.

The Risen Christ Talks to His Followers

21 After this, Jesus again showed Himself to His followers at the lake of Tiberias. It happened like this: ² Simon Peter and Thomas who was called the Twin and Nathanael from the town of Cana in the country of Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two other followers were all together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” The others said, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into a boat. That night they caught no fish.

⁴ Early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore of the lake. The followers did not know it was Jesus. ⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They said, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Put your net over the right side of the boat. Then you will catch some fish.” They put out the net. They were not able to pull it in because it was so full of fish.

⁷ Then the follower whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard it was the Lord, he put on his fisherman’s coat. (He had taken it off.) Then he jumped into the water. ⁸ The other followers came in the boat. They were pulling the net with the fish. They were not far from land, only a little way out.

⁹ When they came to land they saw fish and bread on a fire. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ Simon Peter went out and pulled the net to land. There were 153 big fish. The net was not broken even with so many.

¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” Not one of the followers would ask, “Who are You?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took bread and fish and gave it to them. ¹⁴ This was the third time Jesus had shown Himself to His followers after He had risen from the dead.

The Risen Christ Talks to Peter

¹⁵ When they were finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” Peter answered Jesus, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to Peter the second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He answered Jesus, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of My sheep.”

¹⁷ Jesus said to Peter the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter felt bad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He answered Jesus, “Lord, You know everything. You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. ¹⁸ For sure, I tell you, when you were young, you put on your belt and went wherever you wanted to go. When you get old, you will put out your hands and someone else will put on your belt and take you away where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ He said this to tell Peter what kind of death he would die to honor God. After Jesus said this, He said to Peter, “Follow Me.”

²⁰ Peter turned around. He saw the follower whom Jesus loved, following. This one had been beside Jesus at the supper. This is the one who had asked Jesus, “Lord, who will hand You over?” ²¹ Peter saw him and said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this one?” ²² Jesus said, “If I want this one to wait until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” ²³ So the news spread among the followers that this follower would not die. But Jesus did not say to him that he would not die. He said, “If I want him to wait until I come, what is that to you?”

John Tells That He Wrote This Book

²⁴ This is the follower who is telling of these things and who has written them. We know that his word is true. ²⁵ There are many other things which Jesus did also. If they were all written down, I do not think the world itself could hold the books that would be written.