The Daily Audio Bible

The Coming and Work of Ezra

7 After this, in the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,^{(A) 2} son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ³ son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, ⁴ son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵ son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of the chief priest Aaron— ⁶ this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord the God of Israel had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.^(B)

⁷ Some of the people of Israel and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants also went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.^{(C) 8} They came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹ On the first day of the first month the journey up from Babylon was begun, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him.^{(D) 10} For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach the statutes and ordinances in Israel.^(E)

The Letter of Artaxerxes to Ezra

¹¹ This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, a scholar of the words of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: ¹² “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven: Peace.^[a] And now^{(F) 13} I decree that any of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom who freely offers to go to Jerusalem may go with you. ¹⁴ For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand,^{(G) 15} and also to convey the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,^{(H) 16} with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, given willingly for the house of their God in Jerusalem.^{(I) 17} With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs and their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem.^{(J) 18} Whatever seems good to you and your colleagues to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. ¹⁹ The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰ And whatever else is required for the house of your God that you are responsible for providing, you may provide out of the king’s treasury.^(K)

²¹ “I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence,^{(L) 22} up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred cors of wheat, one hundred baths^[b] of wine, one hundred baths^[c] of oil, and unlimited salt. ²³ Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, or wrath will come upon the realm of the king and his heirs.^{(M) 24} We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on any of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵ “And you, Ezra, according to the God-given wisdom you possess, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River who know the laws of your God, and you shall teach those who do not know them.^{(N) 26} All who will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on them, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of their goods or for imprisonment.”

²⁷ Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem^{(O) 28} and who extended to me steadfast love before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.^(P)

Heads of Families Who Returned with Ezra

8 These are their family heads, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of King Artaxerxes: ² Of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom. Of Ithamar, Daniel. Of David, Hattush,^{(Q) 3} of the descendants of Shecaniah. Of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered one hundred fifty males.^{(R) 4} Of the descendants of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males. ⁵ Of the descendants of Zattu,^[d] Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males. ⁶ Of the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males. ⁷ Of the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males. ⁸ Of the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him eighty males. ⁹ Of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred eighteen males. ¹⁰ Of the descendants of Bani,^[e] Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred sixty males. ¹¹ Of the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males. ¹² Of the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred ten males. ¹³ Of the descendants of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males. ¹⁴ Of the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them seventy males.

Servants for the Temple

¹⁵ I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the descendants of Levi.^{(S) 16} Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise, ¹⁷ and sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his colleagues the temple servants at Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God.^{(T) 18} Since the gracious hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the descendants of Mahli son of Levi son of Israel, namely, Sherebiah, with his sons and kin, eighteen;^{(U) 19} also Hashabiah and with him Jeshaiah of the descendants of Merari, with his kin and their sons, twenty; ²⁰ besides two hundred twenty of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.^(V)

The Ministry of the Apostles

4 Think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.^{(A) 2} Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. ⁴ I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.^(B)

⁶ I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us what “Not beyond what is written” means, so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another. ⁷ For who sees anything different in you?^[a] What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive?^(C)

⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! If only you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! ⁹ For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to humans.^{(D) 10} We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are sensible people in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored.^{(E) 11} To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are naked and beaten and homeless,^{(F) 12} and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;^{(G) 13} when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.

Fatherly Admonition

¹⁴ I am not writing this to make you ashamed but to admonish you as my beloved children. ¹⁵ For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel.^{(H) 16} I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me.^{(I) 17} For this reason I sent^[b] you Timothy, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become arrogant. ¹⁹ But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.^{(J) 20} For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power. ²¹ What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick or with love in a spirit of gentleness?^(K)

Psalm 30

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave Illness

A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.