Study Desk

So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our pleading.

So I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth a hundred talents, and a hundred gold talents,

So the priests and the Levites accepted the weight of silver and gold and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

So we came to Jerusalem and remained there for three days.

"For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy line has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the officials and the leaders have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness."

"But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

'So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.'

"So now let's make a covenant with our God to send away all the wives and their children, following the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the Law.

Then Ezra stood and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel take an oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath.

So they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they were to assemble at Jerusalem,

So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the public square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain.

But the exiles did so. And Ezra the priest selected men who were the heads of fathers' households for each of their father's households, all of them by name. So they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter.

So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This is nothing but sadness of heart." Then I was very much afraid.

Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, "How long will your journey be, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.

And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah,

and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which is by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go." And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.

So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days.

So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Spring and on to the Dung Gate, and I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which had been consumed by fire.

So I was going up at night by the ravine and inspecting the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.