Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.

Cyrus Helps the Jews to Return to Jerusalem

1 It was the first year of the rule of Cyrus. He was king of Persia. The Lord inspired him to send a message all through his kingdom. It happened so that what the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah would come true. The message was written down. It said,

² “Cyrus, the king of Persia, says,

“ ‘The Lord is the God of heaven. He has given me all the kingdoms on earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. ³ Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem and build the Lord’s temple. He is the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And may their God be with them. ⁴ The people still left alive in every place must bring gifts to the people going. They must provide silver and gold to the people going up to Jerusalem. The people must bring goods and livestock. They should also bring any offerings they choose to. All those gifts will be for God’s temple in Jerusalem.’ ”

⁵ Then everyone God had inspired prepared to go. They wanted to go up to Jerusalem and build the Lord’s temple there. They included the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin. They also included the priests and Levites. ⁶ All their neighbors helped them. They gave them silver and gold objects. They gave them goods and livestock. And they gave them gifts of great value. All those things were added to the other offerings the people chose to give.

⁷ King Cyrus also brought out the objects that belonged to the Lord’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar had carried them off from Jerusalem. He had put them in the temple of his own god. ⁸ Cyrus, the king of Persia, told Mithredath to bring them out. Mithredath was in charge of the temple treasures. He counted those objects. Then he gave them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

⁹ Here is a list of the objects.

¹¹ The total number of gold and silver objects was 5,400.

Sheshbazzar brought all of these back with him to Jerusalem. So Sheshbazzar and the Jews who had been forced to leave Judah came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Paul Changes His Plans

¹² Here is what we take pride in. Our sense of what is right and wrong tells us how we have acted. We have lived with honor and godly honesty. We have depended on God’s grace and not on the world’s wisdom. We lived that way most of all when we were dealing with you. ¹³ We are writing only what you can read and understand. And here is what I hope. ¹⁴ Up to this point you have understood some of the things we have said. But now here is what I hope for when the Lord Jesus returns. I hope that your pride in us will be the same as our pride in you. When this happens, you will understand us completely.

¹⁵ Because I was sure of this, I wanted to visit you first. Here is how I thought you would be helped twice. ¹⁶ I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia. I would have come back to you from there. Then you would have sent me on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ When I planned all this, was I ready to change my mind for no good reason? No. I don’t make my plans the way the world makes theirs. In the same breath the world says both, “Yes! Yes!” and “No! No!”

¹⁸ But just as sure as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ Silas, Timothy and I preached to you about the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Our message did not say “Yes” and “No” at the same time. The message of Christ has always been “Yes.”