Study Desk

Now do not stiffen your neck as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.

Moreover, he commanded the people living in Jerusalem to make a contribution for the priests and Levites so that they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.

Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart-he and the people of Jerusalem-so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.

So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

Now, therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.

We also asked for their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.

And there by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.

Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!"

Now, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, leaving it as an inheritance to your sons forever.'

and answered the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it."

I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may letters be given to me for the governors west of the Euphrates, so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.

And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy." And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace."

At that time I also said to the people, "Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day."

He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.

So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read.

For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor.