Study Desk

And by the good favor of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the descendants of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sheriah, with his brothers and his sons, twelve;

Then I called them and proclaimed a fast at the river Hawa, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers, an army and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is with all of those who seek him for good; but his power and his wrath are against all who forsake him.

So we fasted and besought our God for this; and he hearkened to us

And counted to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God which the king and his noblemen and his princes and all Israel there present had offered;

And I said to them, You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD God of your fathers.

So the priests and the Levites took upon themselves to deliver by the weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

Then we departed from the river Hawa on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of our enemies and of such as lay in wait by the way.

Now on the fourth day we weighed the silver and the gold and the vessels in the house of our God, and delivered them to Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabar the son of Joshua and Jodaiah the son of Bagvai, Levites,

Now these are the descendants of those who had been carried away captive, who had come from captivity, who offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin offering; all this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

And they delivered the kings decree to the kings princes and to the governors on this side the River; and they showed respect to the people and to the house of God.

Then all those who were diligent concerning the word of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of the exiles, assembled before me; and I sat speechless until the ninth hour.

And at the ninth hour I rose up from my sorrow; and having torn my garments, I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands in prayer before the LORD God,

And said, O my God, we are ashamed to lift up our faces to thee, our God; for our iniquities are increased over our head and our great sins have reached to the very heavens.

And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a place in his holy land, that our God may lighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

For we are bondmen; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but our God has granted mercy in the sight of the kings of Persia, and has cared for us today, to set up the house of our God and to repair its ruins and to give us a secure place in Judah and in Jerusalem.

And now, O our God, what shall we say after all these things? For we have forsaken thy commandments

And after all these things that have come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great sins, seeing that thou our God hast purposed to forgive our sins and to give us a remnant in the world,

O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous; for thou hast spared a remnant of us, as it is today; behold, we are standing and confessing before thee our sins; for we have no word to speak before thee because of this.

And Shechaniah the son of Nehael, one of the descendants of Elam, answered and said to Ezra the scribe, We have transgressed against our God, and have taken foreign wives of the people of the land; now is there any hope for Israel concerning this thing?