Shepherd on the Search Advent Devotions for Families

Jesus Christ Is All in All

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Opting for Effective Discipline: A 3-Day Parenting Plan

Better Work / Life Balance in Marriage

A MILLION LITTLE MIRACLES

Daily Nuggets of Grace Part 5 Courageous!

Step in to God's Promise

Through the Bible in 90 Days!

Living LifeWise: Parable of the Sower

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

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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"><span class="heading">Opposition to the Rebuilding</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EZR.4.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, the God of Israel, </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.4.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">they 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;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.4.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZR.4.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">But 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 </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZR.4.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EZR.4.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">4:4 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">and troubled them as they built</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZR.4.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">They 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.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZR.4.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EZR.4.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">4:6 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">Ahasuerus</span></span></span><span class="content"> they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EZR.4.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.4.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">And 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.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">4:7 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">written in Aramaic and translated</span></span></span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">4:7 </span><span class="ft">The text of 4:8&#8211;6:18 is in Aramaic.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.4.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZR.4.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:</span></span></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZR.4.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EZR.4.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Rehum 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, </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZR.4.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZR.4.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZR.4.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">(This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)</span></span></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZR.4.11"><span class="content">To King Artaxerxes,</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZR.4.11"><span class="content">From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZR.4.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.4.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The 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.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.4.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EZR.4.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Furthermore, 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.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">4:13 </span><span class="ft">The meaning of the Aramaic for this clause is uncertain.</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EZR.4.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Now 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, </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EZR.4.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">so 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. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EZR.4.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EZR.4.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EZR.4.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">The king sent this reply:</span></span></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EZR.4.17"><span class="content">To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EZR.4.17"><span class="content">Greetings.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EZR.4.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EZR.4.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EZR.4.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">I 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. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EZR.4.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="EZR.4.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EZR.4.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EZR.4.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="EZR.4.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">As 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.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="EZR.4.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="EZR.4.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Thus 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.</span></span></div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

<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"><span class="heading">Tattenai&#8217;s Letter to Darius</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EZR.5.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Now 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. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.5.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Then 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.5.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZR.5.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">At 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; </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EZR.5.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">They</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">5:4 </span><span class="ft">See Septuagint; Aramaic </span><span class="fqa">We.</span></span></span><span class="content"> also asked, &#8220;What are the names of those who are constructing this building?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZR.5.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">But 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZR.5.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EZR.5.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">This 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. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.5.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">The report they sent him read as follows:</span></span></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.5.7"><span class="content">To King Darius:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.5.7"><span class="content">Cordial greetings.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.5.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZR.5.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">The 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.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZR.5.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EZR.5.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">We questioned the elders and asked them, &#8220;Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZR.5.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZR.5.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZR.5.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">This is the answer they gave us:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZR.5.11"><span class="content">&#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. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.5.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">But 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.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.5.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EZR.5.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">&#8220;However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EZR.5.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">He even removed from the temple</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">5:14 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">palace</span></span></span><span class="content"> 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</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">5:14 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">palace</span></span></span><span class="content"> in Babylon. Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor, </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EZR.5.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">and 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;</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EZR.5.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EZR.5.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">&#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;</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EZR.5.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EZR.5.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Now 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.</span></span></div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

<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"><span class="heading">The Decree of Darius</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EZR.6.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.6.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:</span></span></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.6.2"><span class="content">Memorandum:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.6.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZR.6.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZR.6.3"><span class="content">Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">6:3 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 90 feet or about 27 meters</span></span></span><span class="content"> high and sixty cubits wide, </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EZR.6.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZR.6.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Also, 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.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZR.6.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EZR.6.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.6.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Do 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.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.6.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZR.6.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZR.6.8"><span class="content">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. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EZR.6.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Whatever 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, </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZR.6.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZR.6.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZR.6.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Furthermore, 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. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.6.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">May 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.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.6.12"><span class="content">I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Completion and Dedication of the Temple</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.6.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EZR.6.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EZR.6.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">So 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. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EZR.6.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EZR.6.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EZR.6.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Then 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. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EZR.6.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">6:17 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">purification offering</span></span></span><span class="content"> for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EZR.6.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">And 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.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Passover</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EZR.6.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EZR.6.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EZR.6.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">The 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. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="EZR.6.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">So 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 </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, the God of Israel. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EZR.6.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> 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.</span></span></div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

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