Study Desk

'Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought them to the temple of Babylon, King Cyrus took them from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor.

so that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the lives of the king and his sons.

And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building following the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

They offered for the dedication of this temple of God a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Then they appointed the priests to their divisions and the Levites in their sections for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.

For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves.

And they held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the LORD had made them happy, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

"And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges so that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the Euphrates River, that is, all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them.

And as the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of insight from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, eighteen men;

Then they delivered the king's edicts to the king's satraps and the governors in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and they supported the people and the house of God.

"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."

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,

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.

And they finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.

They pledged to send away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

All of these men had married foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

And they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire."

"They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

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,