en_t4t/15-EZR.usfm

\id EZR - Translation 4 Translators 1
\mt1 Ezra
\c 1
\s1 Cyrus let the Jews return to Jerusalem
\p

\v 1 During the first year that Cyrus ruled the Persian \add Empire\add*, he did something that fulfilled the prophecy that Jeremiah had made. Yahweh motivated Cyrus to write this message, and then Cyrus sent this message throughout his empire: 
\pi \v 2 “I, King Cyrus, who rule the Persian \add Empire\add*, declare this: Yahweh, the God who \add is/rules\add* in heaven, has caused me to become the ruler of all the kingdoms \add that I know about\add* on the earth. And he has appointed me to \add enable his people\add* to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, in Judah \add land\add*.
\v 3 All you people who belong to God may go up to Jerusalem to rebuild this temple for Yahweh, the God who lives in Jerusalem, the God \add who is worshiped by you Israeli\add* people. I desire/hope that your God will be with you \add and help those who go\add*.
\v 4 Those people who are in places where Israelis are living, whose ancestors were exiled here, should 12should also give them supplies \add that they will need for the journey to Jerusalem\add*. They should also give them some livestock, and gifts of money to help build the temple of God in Jerusalem.”
\p
\v 5 Then God motivated some of the priests and ◄Levites/men who did work in the temple► and some of the leaders of the tribes that were descended from Judah and Benjamin to return to Jerusalem. Those whom God motivated got ready to return to Jerusalem and build the temple for Yahweh there.
\v 6 All of their neighbors helped them by giving them things made of silver and things made of gold, and supplies for the journey, and livestock. They also gave them other valuable gifts, and also gave them money \add to buy things for building the temple\add*.
\v 7 King Cyrus brought out the valuable things that King Nebuchadnezzar's \add soldiers\add* had taken from the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem and put in the temple of Nebuchadnezzar's gods \add in Babylon\add*.
\v 8 Cyrus commanded Mithredath, the treasurer of the Persian \add Empire\add*, to count all these items and then give them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of \add the group that was going to return to\add* Judah.
\p
\v 9 This is a list of the items that Cyrus donated:
\pi 30 large gold dishes
\pi 1,000 large silver dishes
\pi 29 silver ◄censers/incense burning pans►
\pi
\v 10 30 gold bowls
\pi 410 silver bowls
\pi 1,000 other items.
\p
\v 11 All together, there were 5,400 items made of silver or gold, \add that were given to\add* Sheshbazzar to take with him when he and the others returned to Jerusalem.
\c 2
\s1 The list of groups that returned to Judah
\p

\v 1 King Nebuchadnezzar's \add soldiers\add* had captured many \add Israeli\add* people and taken them to Babylonia. \add Many years later, some Israeli people\add* returned to Judah. Some returned to Jerusalem, and some returned to \add other places in\add* Judah. They went to the towns where their ancestors had lived. This is a list of the groups who returned. \v 2 The leaders of those groups were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.
\p There were:
\tr \tc1
\v 3 2,172 \tc2 descendants of Parosh
\tr \tc1
\v 4 372 \tc2 descendants of Shephatiah
\tr \tc1
\v 5 775 \tc2 descendants of Arah
\tr \tc1
\v 6 2,812 \tc2 descendants of Pahath-Moab, from the families of Jeshua and Joab
\tr \tc1
\v 7 1,254 \tc2 descendants of Elam
\tr \tc1
\v 8 945 \tc2 descendants of Zattu
\tr \tc1
\v 9 760 \tc2 descendants of Zaccai
\tr \tc1
\v 10 642 \tc2 descendants of Bani
\tr \tc1
\v 11 623 \tc2 descendants of Bebai
\tr \tc1
\v 12 1,222 \tc2 descendants of Azgad
\tr \tc1
\v 13 666 \tc2 descendants of Adonikam
\tr \tc1
\v 14 2,056 \tc2 descendants of Bigvai
\tr \tc1
\v 15 454 \tc2 descendants of Adin
\tr \tc1
\v 16 98 \tc2 descendants of Ater, whose other name was Hezekiah
\tr \tc1
\v 17 323 \tc2 descendants of Bezai
\tr \tc1
\v 18 112 \tc2 descendants of Jorah
\tr \tc1
\v 19 223 \tc2 descendants of Hashum
\tr \tc1
\v 20 95 \tc2 descendants of Gibbar.
\b
\p \add People whose ancestors had lived in these towns in Judah:\add*
\tr \tc1
\v 21 123 \tc2 from Bethlehem
\tr \tc1
\v 22 56 \tc2 from Netophah
\tr \tc1
\v 23 128 \tc2 from Anathoth
\tr \tc1
\v 24 42 \tc2 from Azmaveth
\tr \tc1
\v 25 743 \tc2 from Kiriath-Jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth
\tr \tc1
\v 26 621 \tc2 from Ramah and Geba
\tr \tc1
\v 27 122 \tc2 from Micmash
\tr \tc1
\v 28 223 \tc2 from Bethel and Ai
\tr \tc1
\v 29 52 \tc2 from Nebo
\tr \tc1
\v 30 156 \tc2 from Magbish
\tr \tc1
\v 31 1,254 \tc2 from Elam
\tr \tc1
\v 32 320 \tc2 from Harim
\tr \tc1
\v 33 725 \tc2 from Lod, Hadid, and Ono
\tr \tc1
\v 34 345 \tc2 from Jericho
\tr \tc1
\v 35 3,630 \tc2 from Senaah.
\b
\p
\v 36 Priests who returned:
\tr \tc1 973 \tc2 descendants of Jedaiah (that is, those from the family of Jeshua)
\tr \tc1
\v 37 1,052 \tc2 descendants of Immer
\tr \tc1
\v 38 1,247 \tc2 descendants of Pashhur
\tr \tc1
\v 39 1,017 \tc2 descendants of Harim.
\p The ones from the \add rest of the\add* tribe of Levi who returned were:
\tr \tc1
\v 40 74 \tc2 descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel, who were from the family of Hodaviah
\tr \tc1
\v 41 128 \tc2 singers who were descendants of Asaph
\tr \tc1
\v 42 139 \tc2 ◄gatekeepers/men who guarded the gates of the temple► who were descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai.
\b
\p
\v 43 The ◄temple workers/men who would work in the temple► who were descendants of these men:
\li2 Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
\li2
\v 44 Keros, Siaha, Padon,
\li2
\v 45 Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,
\li2
\v 46 Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,
\li2
\v 47 Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,
\li2
\v 48 Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,
\li2
\v 49 Uzza, Paseah, Besai,
\li2
\v 50 Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim,
\li2
\v 51 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
\li2
\v 52 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
\li2
\v 53 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
\li2
\v 54 Neziah, and Hatipha.
\b
\p
\v 55 These descendants of \add King\add* Solomon's servants \add returned\add*:
\b
\li2 Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,
\li2
\v 56 Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,
\li2
\v 57 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim, and Ami.
\b
\p
\v 58 Altogether, there were 392 temple workers and descendants of Solomon's servants who returned.
\b
\pi
\v 59 There was another group who returned \add to Judah\add* from Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Kerub, Addan, and Immer \add towns in Babylonia\add*. But they could not prove that they were descendants of \add people who previously lived in\add* Israel.
\b
\p
\v 60 This group included 652 people who were descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda.
\p
\v 61 Hobaiah's clan, Hakkoz's clan, and Barzillai's clan also returned. Barzillai had married a woman who was a descendant of Barzillai from the Gilead \add region\add*, and he had taken for himself the name of his father-in-law's clan.
\p
\v 62 The people in that group searched in the documents that had the names of the ancestors of all the clans, but these men's names were not found. So they were not permitted do the work that priests did.

\v 63 The governor told them that they would need to ask a priest to consult Yahweh \add by ◄casting/throwing\add* the sacred lots/stones \add that had been marked\add*►, to determine if those men were truly Israelis. When the priests did that, \add if the stones showed that those men were Israelis\add*, they would be permitted to eat the shares of the sacrifices that were given to the priests. 
\b 
\pi \v 64 Altogether 42,360 Israeli people who returned to Judah.
\v 65 There were also 7,337 servants and 200 musicians, both men and women, who returned.
\v 66 The Israelis brought with them \add from Babylonia\add* 736 horses, 245 mules,
\v 67 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.
\p
\v 68 When they arrived at the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem, some of the clan leaders gave money for \add the supplies needed to\add* rebuild the temple at the place where the temple had been previously.
\v 69 They all gave as much money as they were able to give. Altogether they gave 61,000 gold coins, ◄6,250 pounds/3,000 kg.► of silver, and 100 robes for the priests.
\p
\v 70 Then the priests, the \add other\add* descendants of Levi, the musicians, the temple guards, and some of the \add other\add* people started to live in the towns and villages \add near Jerusalem\add*. The rest of the people went to the other places in Israel there where their ancestors had lived.
\c 3
\s1 They rebuilt the altar in Jerusalem
\p
\v 1 \add After the Israeli people returned to Israel \add*, and had begun to live in their towns, ◄in the autumn of/after the hot season ended in► that year, they all gathered together in Jerusalem. \v 2 Then Jeshua, the son of Jehozadak, and his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his friends, all began to rebuild the altar of God, the one whom the Israeli people \add worshiped\add*. They did that in order that they could sacrifice burned offerings on it, according to what the prophet Moses had written in the laws \add that God gave to him\add*.
\v 3-6 Even though they were afraid of the people who were already living in that area, they rebuilt the altar at the same place \add where the previous altar had been\add*. Before they started to lay the foundation of Yahweh's temple, \add the priests\add* started to burn sacrifices to Yahweh \add on the altar\add*. They offered sacrifices every morning and every evening. Fifteen days after \add they started to offer these sacrifices\add*, the people celebrated the Festival of \add Living in Temporary\add* Shelters, as \add Moses\add* had commanded them to do in the laws \add that God gave to him\add*. Each day the priests offered the sacrifices \add that were required\add* for that day. In addition, they presented the regular burned offerings and the offerings that were required for the New Moon Festivals and the other festivals that they celebrated each year \add to honor\add* Yahweh. They also brought other offerings only because they desired to bring them, \add not because they were required to bring them\add*.
\s1 They rebuilt the temple
\p
\v 7 Then the Israelis hired masons and carpenters, and they bought \add logs from\add* cedar trees from the people of Tyre and Sidon \add cities\add*, and they gave those people food and wine and olive oil for the logs. They brought the logs down from \add the mountains in\add* Lebanon \add to the Mediterranean seacoast and then floated them along the coast of the Sea\add*, to Joppa. King Cyrus permitted them to do that. \add Then the logs were brought from Joppa inland up to Jerusalem\add*.
\p
\v 8 The Israelis started to rebuild the temple in the ◄spring/time before the hot season► of the second year after they returned to Jerusalem. Zerubbabel and Jeshua and all the people who had returned to Jerusalem worked on the building. All the ◄Levites/men who did work in the temple► supervised this work.
\v 9 Jeshua and his sons and his other relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, who were descendants of Hodaviah, also helped to supervise the work. The family of Henadad, who were also all Levites, joined with them in supervising this work.
\p
\v 10 When the builders finished laying the foundation of the temple, the priests put on their robes and stood in their places, blowing their trumpets. Then the Levites, who were descendants of Asaph, clashed/banged their cymbals to praise Yahweh, just as King David had \add many years previously\add* told \add Asaph and the other musicians\add* to do.
\v 11 They praised Yahweh and thanked him, and they sang this song about him:
\q1 He is very good \add to us\add*
\q1 He faithfully loves us Israeli people, and he will love us forever.
\m Then all the people shouted loudly, praising Yahweh because they had finished laying the foundation of Yahweh's temple.
\v 12 Many of the \add old\add* priests, Levites, and leaders of families remembered what the first temple \add was like\add*, and they cried aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid \add because they knew that the new temple would not be as beautiful as the first temple\add*. But the other people shouted joyfully.
\v 13 The shouting and the crying was very loud; \add even people\add* far away could hear it.
\c 4
\s1 Their enemies opposed rebuilding the temple
\p
\v 1 The enemies of the people of \add the tribes of\add* Judah and Benjamin heard that the \add Israeli\add* people who had returned from Babylonia were rebuilding a temple for Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people \add worshiped\add*.

\v 2 So they went to Zerubbabel \add the governor\add* and the other leaders, and said \add deceptively\add*, “We want to help \add you build the temple\add*, because we worship that same God whom you worship, and we have been offering sacrifices to him since Esarhaddon, the King of Assyria, brought us here.” 
\p 
\v 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other \add Israeli\add* leaders replied, “We will not allow you to help us build a temple for our(exc) God. We will build it ◄ourselves/without your help► for Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship, like Cyrus, the King of Persia, told us to do.” 
\p \v 4 Then the people who had been living in that land \add before the Israelis returned\add* tried to cause the Jews to become discouraged and become afraid, and to cause them to stop building the temple.
\v 5 They bribed government officials to oppose what the Israelis were doing \add and prevent them from continuing to work on the temple\add*. They did that all during the time that Cyrus was king of Persia. They continued to do it when Darius became the king of Persia.
\s1 Opposition to rebuilding Jerusalem
\p
\v 6 During the first year that \add Darius' son\add* Xerxes was king, the \add enemies of the Jews\add* wrote a note \add to the king\add* saying \add that the Jews were planning to rebel against the government\add*.
\p
\v 7 Later, when \add Xerxes' son\add* Artaxerxes \add became king of Persia\add*, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and their colleagues/companions wrote a letter to him. They wrote the letter in the Aramaic language, and it was translated \add into another language that the king knew\add*.
\p
\v 8 Rehum, the high commissioner, and Shimshai, the provincial secretary, wrote the letter to King Artaxerxes concerning what was happening in Jerusalem.
\mi
\v 9 They stated that the letter was from Rehum the high commissioner/governor and Shimshai the provincial secretary and from their associates, the judges, and other government officials, who were from Erech \add city\add*, Babylon \add city\add*, and Susa \add city\add* in Elam \add district\add*.
\v 10 \add They also wrote that they represented\add* the other people-groups whom \add the army of\add* the great and glorious/famous \add King\add* Ashurbanipal had ◄deported/forced to move from their homes► and taken to live in Samaria city and in other cities in the province west of the Euphrates \add River\add*.
\b
\p
\v 11 This is what they wrote in the letter:
\mi To King Artaxerxes,
\mi From the officials who serve you who live in the province west of the Euphrates \add River.\add*
\pi
\v 12 “Your majesty, we want you to know that the Jews who came here from your territories are rebuilding this city, \add Jerusalem\add*. These people are wicked and want to rebel against you. Now they are repairing the foundations \add of the walls/buildings\add* and building the walls \add of the city\add*.
\pi
\v 13 It is important for you to know that if they rebuild the city and finish building the walls, they will stop paying any kind of taxes. As a result, there will be less money in your treasury.
\v 14 Now, because we are loyal to [IDI] you, and because we do not want you to be humiliated [IDI], we are sending this information to you.
\v 15 And, we suggest that you order/tell \add your officials\add* to search the records that your ancestors made/wrote. \add If you do that\add*, you will find out that the people in this city have always rebelled \add against the government\add*. You will also find out that from long ago these people have caused trouble for kings and for rulers of provinces. They have always revolted against \add those who ruled them\add*. That is the reason that this city was destroyed \add by the Babylonian army\add*.
\v 16 We want you to know that if they rebuild this city and finish building its walls, you will no longer be able to control/rule \add the people in\add* this province west of the Euphrates \add River\add*.”
\b
\p
\v 17 After the king \add read this letter\add*, he sent this reply to them:
\pi “To Rehum, the high commissioner, and Shimshai, the provincial secretary, and their colleagues in Samaria and in other parts of the province that is west of the \add Euphrates\add* River: I ◄send you my greetings/wish that things will go well for you►.
\v 18 The letter that you sent to me was translated and read to me.
\v 19 So then I ordered \add my officials\add* to search the records. I have found out that \add it is true that\add* the people of that city have always revolted against their rulers, and that the city is full of people who have rebelled and caused trouble.
\v 20 Powerful kings have ruled in Jerusalem, and they have also ruled over the whole province west of the \add Euphrates\add* River. \add The people in that province were\add* paying all kinds of taxes to those kings.
\v 21 So you must command that the people must stop rebuilding the city. Only if I tell them \add that they may rebuild it\add* will they be allowed to continue.
\v 22 Do this immediately [LIT], because I do not want those people to do anything to harm the things/area about which I am concerned.”
\p
\v 23 \add Messengers took\add* that letter to Rehum and Shimshai and their colleagues and read it to them. Then Rehum and the others went quickly to Jerusalem, and they forced the Jews to stop \add rebuilding the city wall\add*.
\p
\v 24 The result was that the Jews stopped rebuilding the temple. They did not do any more work to rebuild the temple until Darius became the King of Persia.
\c 5
\s1 Tattenai's letter to King Darius
\p
\v 1 At that time two prophets gave messages from God to the Jews in Jerusalem and \add other cities in\add* Judah. The prophets were Haggai and Zechariah, who was a descendant of Iddo. They spoke those messages representing God, whom the Israelis \add worshiped/belonged to\add*, the one who was their true king.
\v 2 Then Zerubbabel and Shealtiel \add led many other people\add* as they started \add again to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. And God's prophets Haggai and Zechariah\add* were with them and helped them.
\p
\v 3 Then Tattenai the governor of the province west of the \add Euphrates\add* River and Shethar-Bozenai his assistant and \add some of\add* their officials went to Jerusalem and said to the people, “Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple and put furnishings in it?”
\v 4 They also requested the people to tell them the names of the men who were working \add at the temple\add*. \add But the people refused\add*.
\v 5 However, God was taking care of the Jewish leaders, so their enemies were not able to prevent \add the people from continuing to rebuild the temple\add*. \add They continued to work while their enemies\add* sent a report to King Darius, and asked him \add what he wanted them to do about it\add*.
\p
\v 6 So Tattenai and Shethar-Bozenai and their officials sent a report to King Darius.
\v 7 This is what they wrote:
\b
\q “King Darius, we hope that things are going well for you!
\pi
\v 8 \add We want you to know that\add* we went to Judah Province, where the temple of the great God is being rebuilt. The people are building it with huge stones, and they are putting wooden beams in the walls. The work is being done very carefully, and they are progressing well.
\pi
\v 9 We asked the Jewish leaders, ‘Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple and put furnishings in it?’
\v 10 And we requested them to tell us the names of their leaders, in order that we could tell you who they were.
\pi

\v 11 But \add instead of telling us their leaders' names\add*, what they said was, ‘We serve the God \add who created\add* the heaven and the earth. Many years ago a great king \add who ruled\add* us Israeli people \add told our ancestors to\add* build a temple here, and now we are rebuilding it. 
\b 
\pi \v 12 But God, \add who rules in\add* heaven, allowed \add the armies of\add* Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia, to destroy that temple, because our ancestors did things that caused God to become very angry. Nebuchadnezzar's army took \add many of the Israeli\add* people to Babylonia.
\pi
\v 13 However, during the first year that Cyrus the King of Babylon started to rule, he decreed that the temple of God should be rebuilt.
\v 14 Cyrus returned \add to the Jewish leaders\add* all the gold and silver cups that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem and which had been put in the temple in Babylon. Those cups were given to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom King Cyrus had appointed to be the governor in Judah.
\pi
\v 15 The king instructed him to take the cups back to Jerusalem, to the place \add from which they had previously been taken\add*. He also decreed that they should rebuild the temple at the place where it had been before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar to be the governor in Judah. He also sent all those things made of gold and silver, for Sheshbazzar to put in the new temple.
\v 16 So Sheshbazzar did that. He came here to Jerusalem, and \add supervised the men who\add* laid the foundation of the temple. And since that time, the people have been working on the temple, but it is not finished yet.’
\b
\pi
\v 17 Therefore, your majesty, please order someone to search in the place in Babylon where the important records are kept, to find out whether \add it is true that\add* King Cyrus decreed that God's temple should be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then you can tell us what you want us to do about this matter.”
\c 6
\s1 What King Darius commanded
\p
\v 1 \add Later\add* Darius \add became the ruler of the Persian Empire. When the enemies of the Israelis forced them to stop rebuilding the temple, the Persian officials sent a message to King Darius. They asked him\add* to search the records in the ◄archives/government records►, in the building where the king stored the important documents, \add to find out whether King Cyrus had authorized that the temple should be rebuilt\add*.
\v 2 \add The king commanded someone to search there, but those documents were not there in Babylon\add*. They found a scroll at the fort in Ecbatana, in Media province, \add that contained the information that they wanted to know\add*.
\p This is what was written on that scroll:
\pi
\v 3 During the first year that Cyrus \add ruled the empire\add*, he sent out a decree concerning the temple of God which is at Jerusalem. In the decree it was stated that a new temple must be built at the same place that \add the Israeli people previously\add* had offered sacrifices, where the \add original\add* foundation \add of the first temple\add* was. The temple must be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide.
\v 4 The building must be made from large stones. After putting down three layers of stones, a layer of timber must be put on top of them. This work will be paid for by money from my treasury.
\v 5 Also, the gold and silver utensils that King Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple of God in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon must be taken back to Jerusalem. They must be put in God's temple just as they were in the previous temple.
\b
\p
\v 6 After reading this, King Darius sent this message \add to the leaders of the Israeli people's enemies in Jerusalem\add*:
\pi This is a message for Tattenai, the governor of the province west of the \add Euphrates\add* River, and for \add his assistant\add* Shethar-Bozenai, and for all your colleagues: Stay away from that area!
\v 7 Do not ◄interfere with/hinder► the work of building the temple of God! The temple must be rebuilt at the same place where the former temple was. And do not hinder the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews \add while they are doing this work\add*.
\pi
\v 8 Furthermore, I declare that you must help these leaders of the Jews as they rebuild this temple of God \add by giving them funds for the building work\add*.
\pi
\v 9 The Jewish priests in Jerusalem need young bulls and rams and lambs to sacrifice as they make burned offerings to the God of heaven. You must give them the animals that they need. Also, you must be certain to give them the wheat, salt, wine, and \add olive\add* oil that they need each day \add for those sacrifices\add*.
\v 10 If you do that, they will be able to offer sacrifices that please the God who is in heaven, and they will pray that God will bless me and my sons.
\pi
\v 11 If anyone disobeys this decree, \add my soldiers\add* will pull a beam from his house. Then \add after they sharpen one end of the beam\add*, they will lift that man up and impale him on that beam. Then they will \add completely destroy that man's house until only\add* a pile of rubble is left.
\v 12 God has chosen that city of Jerusalem as the place where people will honor him [MTY]. What I desire is that he will get rid of any king or any nation that tries to change this decree or tries to destroy that temple in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have made this decree. It must be obeyed quickly and thoroughly.
\s1 They completed and dedicated the temple
\p
\v 13 Tattenai, the governor of the province, and \add his assistant\add* Shethar-Bozenai and their colleagues \add read the message and\add* immediately obeyed the decree of King Darius.
\v 14 So the Jewish leaders continued their work \add of rebuilding the temple\add*. They were greatly encouraged by the messages that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah preached. The Israelis continued building the temple, just like God had commanded them to do and like King Cyrus had decreed.
\v 15 They finished building it on March 12, during the sixth year that King Darius \add ruled\add*.
\p
\v 16 Then the priests and the Levites and all the other Israeli people who had returned from Babylon very joyfully dedicated the temple.
\v 17 During \add the ceremony to\add* dedicate the temple, they sacrificed 100 young bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs. They also sacrificed twelve male goats as an offering in order that \add God would forgive\add* the sins of the people of the twelve tribes of Israel.
\v 18 Then the priests and Levites were divided into groups that would \add take turns to\add* serve at the temple. They did this according to what Moses had written \add many years previously\add* in the laws \add that he wrote\add*.
\s1 They celebrated the Passover Festival
\p
\v 19 On April 21, the Jews who had returned from Babylon celebrated the Passover Festival.
\v 20 \add To qualify themselves for offering the sacrifices\add*, the priests and Levites had already purified themselves by performing certain rituals. Then they slaughtered the lambs for the benefit of all the people who had returned from Babylon, for the other priests, and for themselves.
\v 21 Those who had returned from Babylon and the other people in that land who had turned away from their immoral practices in order to worship Yahweh, the God of the Israeli people, ate the Passover meal.
\v 22 They celebrated the Unleavened Bread Festival of \add Eating\add* Unleavened Bread for seven days. The Israeli people throughout the land were joyful because Yahweh had changed the attitude of the king of Assyria toward them, and as a result, the king had helped them to rebuild the temple of God, the one whom they \add worshiped\add*.
\c 7
\s1 Ezra went to Jerusalem
\p
\v 1 \add Many/Fifty years\add* later, while Artaxerxes was the king of Persia, I, Ezra came from Babylon here to Jerusalem. I am the son of Seraiah and the grandson of Azariah, and the great-grandson of Hilkiah.
\v 2 Hilkiah was the son of Shallum, who was the son of Zadok, who was the son of Ahitub,
\v 3 who was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Meraioth,
\v 4 who was the son of Zerahiah, who was the son of Uzzi, who was the son of Bukki,
\v 5 who was the son of Abishua, who was the son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron, the \add first\add* Supreme Priest.
\v 6 I am a man who knows very well the laws that Moses \add wrote\add*. Those were the laws that Yahweh, the God whom we Israeli people ◄\add worship/belong to\add*►, had given to us Israeli people. When I arrived in Jerusalem, Yahweh my God acted kindly toward me, and as a result the \add people\add* gave me everything that I had requested the king to \add tell them to\add* give to me.
\v 7 Some of the priests, some \add other\add* descendants of Levi, \add some\add* singers, \add some\add* ◄gatekeepers/men who guarded the gates of the temple►, and \add some\add* men who worked in the temple, and some other \add Israeli\add* people came up with me here to Jerusalem. That was during the seventh year that Artaxerxes was the king \add of Persia\add*.
\p
\v 8-9 We left Babylon on April 8, which was the first day of the Jewish year. Because God acted very kindly toward us, we arrived \add safely\add* in Jerusalem on August 4 of that year.
\v 10 During my entire life, I devoted myself to studying the laws of Yahweh, and how to obey those laws. I had also taught those laws and all their regulations to the Israeli people \add for many years\add*.
\s1 The letter that Artaxerxes gave to Ezra
\p

\v 11 King Artaxerxes \add knew that\add* I am a priest who knows the Jewish laws very well. \add He knew that for many years\add* I had studied those laws and had taught all the rules and regulations of those laws to the Israeli people. \add So before I left Babylon to come to Jerusalem\add*, he wrote a letter, and gave a copy to me. \add This is what he wrote\add*: 
\p \v 12 \add This letter is\add* from me, Artaxerxes, the greatest of the kings. \add I am giving it\add* to Ezra the priest, who has studied very well all the rules and regulations that the God \add who is/rules\add* in heaven \add gave to the Israeli people\add*.
\b
\pi
\v 13 Ezra, I command that when you return to Jerusalem, any of the Israeli people in my kingdom who want to are allowed to go with you. That includes any priests and \add other\add* descendants of Levi \add who will work in the temple\add* who want to go.
\v 14 I, along with my seven counselors/advisors, am sending you to Jerusalem, in order that you can determine what is happening there and in \add other towns in\add* Judah. You are taking with you [MTY] a copy of God's laws; make sure that the people are doing everything that is written in those laws.
\v 15 \add We are also saying that\add* you should take with you the silver and gold that I and my advisors are wanting to give to you, in order that you will present it to be an offering to the God \add who rules\add* the Israeli people and who lives in Jerusalem.
\v 16 You should also take any silver and gold that the people in the entire Babylonia province give to you, and the money that the priests and \add other\add* Israeli people have happily said that they would give to you to be offerings for building the temple of their God in Jerusalem.
\v 17 With this money, you should buy the bulls, rams, lambs, and the grain and wine that the priests will burn on the altar \add outside\add* the temple of your God in Jerusalem.
\pi
\v 18 If there is any silver or gold that remains after \add you have bought all those things\add*, you and your companions/colleagues are permitted to use it \add to buy\add* whatever you desire, but buy only things that \add you know\add* that God wants you to buy.
\v 19 We have given to you some valuable items to be used in the temple of your God. Take them also to Jerusalem.
\v 20 If you need any other things for the temple, you are permitted to get the money for those things from the building here where my government's money is kept/stored.
\pi
\v 21 And I, King Artaxerxes, command this to all the treasurers in the province west of the \add Euphrates\add* River: Give to Ezra, the priest who has studied very well the laws of the God \add who is/rules\add* in heaven, everything that he requests, and give it to him quickly.
\v 22 The most that you should give to him is ◄7,500 pounds/3,400 kg.► of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, and 550 gallons of \add olive\add* oil, but give to him all the salt that they need.
\v 23 Be sure that you provide whatever their God requires for his temple, because we certainly do not [RHQ] want him to be angry with me or with my descendants who will later be kings.
\v 24 We are also commanding that none of the priests, descendants of Levi, musicians, temple guards, or other men who work in the temple, will be required to pay any kind of taxes. \pi \v 25 Ezra, your God has enabled you to become very wise. Using that wisdom, appoint men in the province west of the \add Euphrates\add* River who will judge cases involving the people, and men who will judge cases involving the government. You must appoint men who know the laws of your God. All of you must teach God's laws to others who do not know them.
\v 26 Everyone who does not obey God's laws or the laws of my government must be punished severely. Some of them will be executed, some will be put in prison, some will be sent out of the country or have all their property taken away from them.
\s1 Ezra praised Yahweh
\p

\v 27 \add Because King Artaxerxes was very kind like that, I said\add*, “Praise Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors \add worshiped/belonged to\add* He has caused the king to want to honor his temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. \v 28 Because God acted very kindly toward me, the king and all his advisors and all his powerful officials have also acted kindly toward me. So, because God has helped me, I have become encouraged, and I have been \add able to persuade\add* some of the Israeli leaders to go up to Jerusalem with me.”
\c 8
\s1 The clans that returned with Ezra to Jerusalem
\p
\v 1 This is a list of the names of the leaders of the clans who came with me up \add to Jerusalem\add* from Babylonia when Artaxerxes was the king \add of Persia\add*:
\b
\li1
\v 2 Gershom, from the clan descended from \add Aaron's grandson\add* Phinehas
\li1 Daniel, from the clan descended from \add Aaron's son\add* Ithamar
\li1 Hattush, the son of Shecaniah, from the clan descended from King David
\li1
\v 3 Zechariah and 150 \add other\add* men from the clan descended from Parosh
\li1
\v 4 Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 other men from the clan descended from Pahath-Moab
\li1
\v 5 Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel and 300 other men from the clan descended from Zattu
\li1
\v 6 Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 other men from the clan descended from Adin
\li1
\v 7 Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 other men from the clan descended from Elam
\li1
\v 8 Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 other men from the clan descended from Shephatiah
\li1
\v 9 Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 other men from the clan descended from Joab
\li1
\v 10 Shelomith the son of Josiphiah and 160 other men from the clan descended from Bani
\li1
\v 11 Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 other men from the clan descended from \add another man whose name was\add* Bebai
\li1
\v 12 Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 other men from the clan descended from Azgad
\li1
\v 13 Also Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, who returned \add here\add* later with 60 men from the clan descended from Adonikam
\li1
\v 14 And Uthai and Zaccur and 70 other men from the clan descended from Bigvai.
\s1 Ezra and the others prepared to return to Jerusalem
\p
\v 15 I gathered all of them together at the canal that goes \add from Babylon\add* to Ahava \add town\add*. We set up our tents there and stayed there for three days. \add During that time\add* I checked the lists of names and found out that there were priests \add going with us\add*, but no \add other\add* descendants of Levi \add who could help them in the temple\add*.
\v 16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, two men whose names were Elnathan, Jarib, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were all leaders \add of the people\add*. I also summoned Joiarib and another Elnathan, who were wise.
\v 17 I sent them all to Iddo, the leader of the descendants of Levi, who was living in Casiphia \add town\add*, to request that he and his relatives and other men who had worked in the temple send to us some men who would \add go/come with us to\add* work in God's new temple \add in Jerusalem\add*.
\p
\v 18 Because God acted kindly toward us, they brought to us a man named Sherebiah and eighteen of his sons and other relatives. Sherebiah was a very wise man, a descendant of Mahli, \add who was a grandson\add* of Levi. \v 19 They also sent to us Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, descendants of \add Levi's son\add* Merari, and twenty of their relatives.
\v 20 They also sent 220 other men to work in the temple. Those men's ancestors had been appointed by King David to assist the descendants of Levi \add who helped the priests in the temple\add*. I listed/wrote the names of all those men.
\p
\v 21 There alongside the Ahava Canal, I told them that we all would ◄fast/abstain from eating food► and pray. I also told them that we should humble ourselves in the presence of our God. We prayed that God would protect us while we traveled, and also protect our children and our possessions/belongings.
\v 22 Previously we had told the king that our God takes care of all those who truly trust in him, but that he becomes very angry with those who refuse to obey him. So I would have been ashamed if I had asked the king to send soldiers and men riding on horses to protect us from our enemies while we were traveling along the road.
\v 23 So we ◄fasted/abstained from eating food► and requested God to protect us, and he ◄answered our prayers/did what we requested.►
\s1 The gifts for the temple
\p
\v 24 I chose twelve of the leaders of the priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives.
\v 25 I appointed them to supervise carrying to Jerusalem the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items that the king and his advisors and other officials, and the Israeli people \add who were living in Babylonia\add*, had contributed for the temple of our God.
\v 26 As I gave these various items to those priests, I weighed each of the items. This was the total: 25 tons of silver, 100 items made from silver that altogether weighed 7,500 pounds, ◄7,500 pounds/3,400 kg.► of gold,
\v 27 twenty gold bowls that altogether weighed ◄19 pounds/8.6 kg.►, and two items made of polished bronze that were as valuable as ones made of gold.
\p
\v 28 I said to those priests, “You belong to Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors ◄worshiped/also belonged to►, and these valuable things also belong to him. The people themselves gave these things to be offerings to Yahweh ◄voluntarily/because they wanted to►.
\v 29 So guard them carefully, and \add when we arrive\add* in Jerusalem, weigh them in the presence of the priests, the descendants of Levi \add who will help the priests\add*, and the other Israeli leaders there. They will then put them in the storerooms in the new temple.”
\v 30 So the priests and \add other\add* descendants of Levi took from me all the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items, in order to carry them to the temple in Jerusalem.
\s1 They returned to Jerusalem
\p
\v 31 On April 19, we left the Ahava Canal and started to travel to Jerusalem. Our God took care of us, and while we traveled, he prevented our enemies and bandits from ◄ambushing us/suddenly attacking us►.
\v 32 After we arrived in Jerusalem, we rested for three days.
\v 33 Then on the fourth/next day we went to the temple. There the silver and gold and the other items were weighed and given to the priest Meremoth, the son of Uriah. Eleazar the son of Phinehas and two descendants of Levi, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, were with him.
\p
\v 34 They counted everything, and wrote down how much they weighed, and wrote \add a description\add* of each item.
\p
\v 35 We who had returned from Babylonia offered to God sacrifices on the altar. We offered twelve bulls for all us Israeli people. We also offered 96 rams and 27 lambs. We also sacrificed twelve goats \add to atone\add* for the sins that all the people had committed. These were all completely burned on the altar.
\v 36 Some of us who returned \add from Babylonia\add* took to the governors and other officials of the province west of the \add Euphrates\add* River the letter that the king had given to us. \add After they read the letter\add*, they did all \add that they were able to do\add* for us Israeli people and for the temple of God.
\c 9
\s1 Ezra prayed about the Israeli people marrying foreign wives
\p
\v 1 Some time later, the Jewish leaders came to me and said, “Many Israelis, and even some priests and \add other men who are\add* descendants of Levi \add who work in the temple\add*, have not kept themselves from \add doing what\add* the other people who are living in this land \add do\add*. They are practicing the detestable things that the Canaan, Heth, Periz, Jebus, Ammon, and Amor people-groups, and the people from Moab and Egypt do.
\v 2 \add Specifically, some\add* Israeli men have married women who are not Israelis, and they have allowed their sons to do the same thing. So we, God's sacred people, have become ◄contaminated/impure in God's sight►. And some of our leaders and officials have been the first/worst ones to do this.”
\p
\v 3 When I heard that, I \add became very angry, with the result that\add* I tore my clothes and tore some hair from my head and from my beard. Then I sat down, very shocked/dismayed. \add The Israelis knew that God had warned us that he would punish us if we disobeyed\add* what he had said to us \add about marrying women who are not Israelis\add*.
\v 4 So many of them trembled/were afraid when they heard that some of those who had returned from Babylonia had sinned like that. They came and sat with me until it was time to offer the evening sacrifices \add of grain\add*.
\p
\v 5 When it was time to offer those sacrifices, I was still sitting there, wearing those torn clothes and mourning/sad. I stood up, and then I quickly prostrated myself on the ground. I lifted up my hands to Yahweh, my God,
\v 6 and this is what I prayed:
\pi “Yahweh my God, I am very ashamed to raise my head in front of you. The sins that we Israelis have committed \add are very great; it is as though they\add* have risen up higher than our heads, and our guilt \add for committing those sins, it is as though it\add* rises up to the heavens.
\v 7 Since the time that our ancestors lived until now, we have been very guilty. That is the reason that we and our kings and our priests have been defeated by the \add armies of\add* the kings of other lands. They killed \add some of our people\add*, they captured \add some\add*, they robbed \add some\add*, and they \add caused them all to be\add* disgraced, just like we are today.
\pi
\v 8 But now, Yahweh God, you have acted very kindly toward us. You have allowed some of us to ◄survive/continue to live►. You have revived our spirits [IDI] and allowed us to escape from being slaves \add in Babylonia\add* and to return safely [IDI] to live in this sacred place.
\v 9 We were slaves, but you did not abandon us. Instead, because you faithfully love us, you caused the kings of Persia to act very kindly toward us. You have allowed us to continue to live and to rebuild your temple which had been completely destroyed. You have allowed us to start to live safely here in Jerusalem and in \add other towns in\add* Judah.
\pi
\v 10 Our God, what more can we say now [RHQ]? In spite of \add all that you have done for us\add*, we have disobeyed your commands.
\v 11 They are commands that you gave to your servants, the prophets, to tell to us. They said that the land that we would occupy was polluted because of the detestable/disgusting things that were done by the people who lived there. They said that the land was filled from one end to the other with people who did immoral/shameful things.
\v 12 They said, ‘Do not allow your daughters to marry their sons! Do not allow your sons to marry their daughters! Do not even try to cause things to go well for those people-groups! If you obey these instructions, your nation will be strong, and you will enjoy the good crops that grow on the land, and the land will belong to your descendants forever.’
\pi
\v 13 You punished us because we were very guilty for having done wicked things. But you have not punished us as much as we deserve to be punished. \add I say this because\add* you, our God, have allowed some of us to survive.
\v 14 However, some of us are again disobeying your commands, and we are marrying women who do those detestable things. If we continue to do that, surely you will get rid of all of us [RHQ], with the result that none of us will remain alive.
\v 15 Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis \add worship/belong to\add*, you are fair/just. We are guilty. We are only a few people who have escaped \add from Babylonia\add*, but we pray to you, even though and we do not deserve to stand in your presence.”
\c 10
\s1 The men agreed to divorce their foreign wives
\p
\v 1 While I was kneeling down in front of the temple and praying and crying, I was confessing \add the sins that the Israeli people had committed\add*. Many people, men and women and children, gathered around me and also cried very much.
\v 2 Then Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel from the clan of Elam, said this to me: “We have disobeyed God. \add Some of\add* us have married women who are not Israelis. But we can still confidently expect \add Yahweh to be merciful to\add* us Israeli people.
\v 3 We will do what you, and the others who have an awesome respect for what our God has commanded, tell us to do. We will do what God told us in his laws. We will make an agreement with our God, saying that we will divorce our wives who are not Israelis, and we will send them away with their children.
\v 4 ◄It is your responsibility to/Because you are our leader, you must► \add tell us what to do\add*. So get up, and be courageous, and do \add what is necessary\add*. We will ◄support you/tell people to do what you say►.”
\p
\v 5 So I stood up and demanded that the leaders of the priests, the \add other\add* descendants of Levi, and all \add the other\add* Israeli people solemnly declare that they would do what Shecaniah said that they should do. So they all solemnly promised to do that.

\v 6 Then I went away from the front of the temple and went to the room where Jehohanan lived. I stayed there that night, but I did not eat or drink anything. I was still sad because some of the Israelis who had returned \add from Babylonia\add* had not faithfully \add obeyed God's laws\add*. 
\p \v 7 Then we sent a message to all \add the people in\add* Jerusalem and \add in other towns in\add* Judah, saying that all those who had returned \add from Babylonia\add* should come to Jerusalem immediately.
\v 8 We said that if any of them did not arrive within three days, the leaders of the people would order that all the property of those people would be taken from them, and that they would no longer be considered to belong to the Israeli people; \add they would be considered to be foreigners\add*.
\p
\v 9 So within three days, on December 19, all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. They were there, sitting in the courtyard in front of the temple. They were trembling because it was raining hard and because they were worried \add that they would be punished for what they had done\add*.
\v 10 Then I stood up and said to them, “\add Some of\add* you men have committed a very bad sin. You have married women who are not Israelis. By doing that, you have made us Israeli people more guilty \add than we were before\add*.
\v 11 So now you must confess to Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors \add worshiped/belonged to\add*, the sin which you have committed, and you must do what he wants. Separate yourselves from the people of other nations and from the women from those nations whom you have married.”
\p
\v 12 The whole group answered, shouting loudly, “Yes, what you have said is right! We will do what you have said.”
\v 13 But then \add one of\add* them said, “But we are a very large group, and it is raining hard. Also, there are many of us who have committed this bad sin. This is something that we cannot ◄take care of/handle► in one or two days, and we cannot stand here in this rain.
\v 14 So allow our leaders to decide for all of us what we should do. Tell everyone who has married a woman who is not Israeli to come at a time that you decide. They should come with the elders and judges from each city. If we do that, our God will stop being angry with us \add because of what we have done\add*.”
\p
\v 15 Jonathan the son of Asahel, Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah, and Meshullam and Shabbethai, a descendant of Levi, were the only ones who objected to this.
\p
\v 16 All the others who had returned from Babylonia said that they would do it. So I chose leaders of each of the clans, and I wrote down their names. On December 29, these men came and sat down to investigate the matter.
\v 17 By March 27 of the next year they finished determining which men had married women who were not Israelis.
\s1 The men who had married foreign wives
\li1
\v 18 This is a list of the names of the priests who had married non-Israeli women, and the clans to which they belonged. From the clan of Jeshua and his brothers, who were sons of Jehozadak, there were Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
\v 19 They solemnly promised to divorce their wives, and they each sacrificed a ram to be an offering \add to atone\add* for their sins.
\li1
\v 20 From the clan of Immer there were Hanani and Zebadiah.
\li1
\v 21 From the clan of Harim there were Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.
\li1
\v 22 From the clan of Pashhur there were Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
\li1
\v 23 The \add other\add* descendants of Levi \add who had married non-Israeli women\add* were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (whose other name was Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
\li1
\v 24 There was Eliashib the musician
\li2 From the temple guards there were Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
\b
\li1
\v 25 This is a list of the names of the other Israelis who had married foreign wives:
\li1 From the clan of Parosh there were Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah, and Benaiah.
\li1
\v 26 From the clan of Elam there were Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
\li1
\v 27 From the clan of Zattu there were Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.
\li2
\v 28 From the clan of Bebai there were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.
\li1
\v 29 From the clan of Bani there were Meshullam, Malluch,, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.
\li1
\v 30 From the clan of Pahath-Moab there were Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.
\li1
\v 31 From the clan of Harim there were Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
\v 32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
\li1
\v 33 From the clan of Hashum there were Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.
\li1
\v 34 From the clan of Bigvai there were Maadai, Amram, Uel,
\v 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi,
\v 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
\v 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.
\li1
\v 38 From the clan of Binnui there were Shimei,
\li2
\v 39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,
\v 40 Macnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
\v 41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
\v 42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.
\li1
\v 43 From the clan of Nebo there were Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
\b
\p
\v 44 Each of those men had married a woman who was not an Israeli. \add But immediately\add* they divorced those women and sent them and their children away.