Audacious Faith: Standing Firm in the Fire

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="EZR.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return</div><div class="p"> 1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:</div><div class="pmo"> 2&#8220;This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites&#8212;everyone whose heart God had moved&#8212;prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.</div><div class="p"> 7Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.#1:7 Or gods 8Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.</div><div class="p"> 9This was the inventory:</div><div class="b"></div><table class="table">
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">gold dishes</td>
 <td class="cell">30</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">silver dishes</td>
 <td class="cell">1,000</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">silver pans#1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</td>
 <td class="cell">29</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">10gold bowls</td>
 <td class="cell">30</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">matching silver bowls</td>
 <td class="cell">410</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">other articles</td>
 <td class="cell">1,000</td>
</tr>
</table><div class="b"> </div><div class="p"> 11In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="EZR.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">Rebuilding the Altar</div><div class="p"> 1When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. 2Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices. 4Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. 5After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. 6On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord&#8217;s temple had not yet been laid.</div><div class="s1">Rebuilding the Temple</div><div class="p"> 7Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.</div><div class="p"> 8In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. 9Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah#3:9 Hebrew Yehudah, a variant of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers&#8212;all Levites&#8212;joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.</div><div class="p"> 10When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;He is good;</div><div class="q2">his love toward Israel endures forever.&#8221;</div><div class="m">And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="EZR.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">Opposition to the Rebuilding</div><div class="p"> 1When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, &#8220;Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, &#8220;You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.#4:4 Or and troubled them as they built 5They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.</div><div class="s1">Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes</div><div class="p"> 6At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes,#4:6 Hebrew Ahasuerus they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.</div><div class="p"> 7And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.#4:7 Or written in Aramaic and translated#4:7 The text of 4:8&#8211;6:18 is in Aramaic.</div><div class="p"> 8Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:</div><div class="pmo"> 9Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates&#8212;the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, 10and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.</div><div class="p"> 11(This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)</div><div class="pmo">To King Artaxerxes,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pmo">From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 12The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.</div><div class="pm"> 13Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer.#4:13 The meaning of the Aramaic for this clause is uncertain. 14Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, 15so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed. 16We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.</div><div class="p"> 17The king sent this reply:</div><div class="pmo">To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pmo">Greetings.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 18The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?</div><div class="p"> 23As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 24Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="EZR.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">Tattenai&#8217;s Letter to Darius</div><div class="p"> 1Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.</div><div class="p"> 3At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, &#8220;Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?&#8221; 4They#5:4 See Septuagint; Aramaic We. also asked, &#8220;What are the names of those who are constructing this building?&#8221; 5But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.</div><div class="p"> 6This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius. 7The report they sent him read as follows:</div><div class="pmo">To King Darius:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pmo">Cordial greetings.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 8The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.</div><div class="pm"> 9We questioned the elders and asked them, &#8220;Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?&#8221; 10We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.</div><div class="pm"> 11This is the answer they gave us:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm">&#8220;We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. 12But because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.</div><div class="pm"> 13&#8220;However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14He even removed from the temple#5:14 Or palace of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple#5:14 Or palace in Babylon. Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor, 15and he told him, &#8216;Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 16&#8220;So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 17Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="EZR.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">The Decree of Darius</div><div class="p"> 1King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:</div><div class="pmo">Memorandum:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 3In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm">Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits#6:3 That is, about 90 feet or about 27 meters high and sixty cubits wide, 4with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. 5Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 6Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. 7Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.</div><div class="pm"> 8Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:</div><div class="pm">Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9Whatever is needed&#8212;young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem&#8212;must be given them daily without fail, 10so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.</div><div class="pm"> 11Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. 12May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.</div><div class="pm">I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.</div><div class="s1">Completion and Dedication of the Temple</div><div class="p"> 13Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. 14So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.</div><div class="p"> 16Then the people of Israel&#8212;the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles&#8212;celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering#6:17 Or purification offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 18And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.</div><div class="s1">The Passover</div><div class="p"> 19On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. 20The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. 22For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.</div>
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