Ezra 5 - 6, 2 John, Proverbs 30 — Legacy Standard Bible

Rebuilding the House of God Begins Again

5And the prophets, ^aHaggai the prophet and ^bZechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. ²Then ^aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and ^bthe prophets of God were with them supporting them.

³At that time ^aTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the ¹River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them thus, “^bWho issued you a decree to rebuild this house and to complete this structure?” ⁴^aThen we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were rebuilding this building. ⁵But ^athe eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could come to Darius, and then a document be returned concerning this.

Tattenai and Others Write to King Darius

⁶This is the copy of the letter which ^aTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues ^bthe officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. ⁷They sent word to him in which it was written thus: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸“Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, and it is being built with huge stones, and timber is being put within the walls; and that work is going on with all diligence and is succeeding in their hands. ⁹“Then we asked those elders and said to them thus, ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this house and to complete this structure?’ ¹⁰“And we also asked them their names in order to make known to you, and that we might write down the names of the men who were at their head.

¹¹“Thus they responded with a word to us, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, ^awhich a great king of Israel built and completed. ¹²‘But ^abecause our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, ^bHe gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and took the people away into exile in Babylon. ¹³‘However, ^ain the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus ^bissued a decree to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴‘Also ^athe gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple ¹in Jerusalem and brought them to the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took out from the temple of Babylon, and they were given to one ^bwhose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. ¹⁵‘He said to him, “Take these articles, go and deposit them in the temple ¹in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place.” ¹⁶‘Then that Sheshbazzar came and ^alaid the foundations of the house of God ¹in Jerusalem; and from then until now it is being rebuilt, and it is ^bnot yet finished.’ ¹⁷“So now if it seems good to the king, ^alet a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, if it be that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild that house of God in Jerusalem; and let the king send to us his will concerning this matter.”

The Scroll with Cyrus’ Decree Is Found

6Then King Darius issued a decree, and a ^asearch was made in the ¹archives, where the treasures were deposited in Babylon. ²And in ¹Ecbatana in the fortress, which is ^ain the province of Media, a scroll was found and there was written in it as follows: “Memorandum— ³“^aIn the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let that house, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be ¹retained, its height being ²60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; ⁴^awith three layers of huge stones and ¹one layer of timbers. And let the cost be given from the ²royal treasury. ⁵‘And also let ^athe gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and ¹brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall deposit them in the house of God.’

⁶“Now ^aTattenai, governor of the province beyond the ¹River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, ²keep away from there. ⁷“Leave that work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild that house of God in its designated place. ⁸“Moreover, ^aI issue a decree concerning what you shall do for those elders of Judah in the rebuilding of that house of God: the full cost is to be given to those people from the royal treasury out of the tribute of the provinces beyond the River, and that without negligence. ⁹“Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, according to what the priests in Jerusalem say, it is to be given to them daily without negligence, ¹⁰that they may bring sweet-smelling sacrifices near to the God of heaven and ^apray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹“And I issued a decree that ^aany man who violates this edict, a timber shall be pulled out from his house and he shall be impaled on it and ^bhis house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this. ¹²“May the God who ^ahas caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who ¹stretches out his hand to change it, so as to destroy that house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree, let it be done with all diligence!”

The Dedication of the House of God

¹³Then ^aTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent. ¹⁴And ^athe elders of the Jews were building and succeeding through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. So they built and completed it according to the decree of the God of Israel and the decree ^bof Cyrus, ^cDarius, and ^dArtaxerxes king of Persia. ¹⁵And this house was brought to completion ¹on the third day of the ^amonth Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹⁶And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the ¹exiles, ^acelebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷They brought near for the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel ^a12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸Then they appointed the priests to ^atheir sections and the Levites in ^btheir divisions for the service of God ¹in Jerusalem, ^cas it is written in the book of Moses.

Passover Celebrated

¹⁹^aAnd the exiles celebrated the Passover on ^bthe fourteenth of the first month. ²⁰^aFor the priests and the Levites had cleansed themselves together; all of them were clean. Then ^bthey slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves. ²¹Then the sons of Israel who returned from exile and ^aall those who had separated themselves from ^bthe uncleanness of the nations of the land to join them, to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ate the Passover. ²²And ^athey celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with gladness, for Yahweh had caused them to be glad and ^bhad turned the heart of ^cthe king of Assyria toward them to ¹strengthen them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Walk in Truth and Love

1^aThe elder to the ^belect ^clady and her children, whom I ^dlove in truth, and not only I, but also all who ^eknow the truth, ²for ^athe sake of the truth which abides ^bin us and will be ^cwith us forever: ³^aGrace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴^aI rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father. ⁵Now I ask you, lady, ^anot as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had ^bfrom the beginning, that we ^clove one another. ⁶And ^athis is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, ^bjust as you have heard ^cfrom the beginning, that you should walk in it.

⁷For ^amany deceivers have ^bgone out into the world, those who ^cdo not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is ^dthe deceiver and the ^eantichrist. ⁸^aSee to yourselves, ^bthat you do not lose what we accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. ⁹¹Anyone who ²goes too far and ^adoes not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, ^ado not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting, ¹¹for the one who gives him a greeting ¹^,^aparticipates in his evil deeds.

¹²^aThough I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that ¹your ^bjoy may be made complete.

¹³The children of your ^aelect sister greet you.

Every Word of God Is Tested

30The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the ¹oracle. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

²Surely I am more ^asenseless than any man,And I do not have the understanding of mankind.³Neither have I learned wisdom,Nor do I know the ^aknowledge of the Holy One.⁴Who has ^aascended into heaven and descended?Who has gathered the ^bwind in His fists?Who has ^cwrapped the waters in ¹His garment?Who has ²^,^destablished all the ends of the earth?What is His ^ename? And what is His ^fSon’s name?Surely you know!⁵Every ^aword of God is ¹tested;He is a ^bshield to those who take refuge in Him.⁶^aDo not add to His wordsLest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar.⁷Two things I asked of You,Do not withhold from me before I die:⁸Keep worthlessness and every false word far from me,Give me neither poverty nor riches;Feed me with the ^afood that is my portion,⁹Lest I be ^afull and deny ^bYou and say, “Who is Yahweh?”Or lest I be ^cimpoverished and steal,And ¹^,^dprofane the name of my God.¹⁰Do not slander a slave to his master,Lest he ^acurse you and you be found guilty.¹¹There is a generation that ^acurses its fatherAnd does not bless its mother.¹²There is a generation that is ^aclean in its own eyes,Yet is not washed from its filthiness.¹³There is a generation—oh how ^ahaughty are its eyes!And its eyelids are lifted up.¹⁴There is a generation whose ^ateeth are like swordsAnd its ^bfangs like knives,To ^cdevour the afflicted from the earthAnd the needy from among men.¹⁵The leech has two daughters,“Give,” “Give.”There are three things that will not be satisfied,Four that will not say, “Enough”:¹⁶^aSheol, and the ^bbarren womb,Earth that is never satisfied with water,And fire that never says, “Enough.”¹⁷The eye that ^amocks a fatherAnd ^bdespises obedience to a mother,The ^cravens of the valley will pick it out,And the young ^deagles will eat it.¹⁸There are three things which are too wonderful for me,Four which I do not understand:¹⁹The way of an ^aeagle in the sky,The way of a serpent on a rock,The way of a ship in the heart of the sea,And the way of a man with a virgin.²⁰This is the way of an ^aadulterous woman:She eats and wipes her mouth,And says, “I have done no wrong.”²¹Under three things the earth quakes,And under four, it cannot bear up:²²Under a ^aslave when he becomes king,And a wicked fool when he is satisfied with food,²³Under ¹an unloved woman when she gets a husband,And a servant-girl when she supplants her mistress.²⁴Four things are small on the earth,But they are exceedingly wise:²⁵The ^aants are not a strong people,But they prepare their food in the summer;²⁶The ¹^,^ashephanim are not a mighty people,Yet they make their houses in the cliff;²⁷The locusts have no king,Yet all of them go out in ^arank;²⁸The lizard you may grasp with the hands,Yet it is in kings’ palaces.²⁹There are three things which are stately in their march,Even four which are stately when they walk:³⁰The lion which is ^amighty among the animalsAnd does not ^bturn back before any,³¹The ¹strutting rooster, the male goat also,And a king when his army is with him.³²If you have been wickedly foolish in lifting yourself up,Or if you have schemed evil, ^aput your hand on your mouth.³³For pressing milk brings forth butter,And pressing the nose brings forth blood;And pressing ^aanger brings forth strife.