Ezra 1 - 2, 1 John 3 - 4, Proverbs 28

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Ezra 1 - 2

The Proclamation of Cyrus

1^aNow in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to complete the word of ¹Yahweh from the mouth of Jeremiah—Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he ^bhad a proclamation pass throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

²“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and ^aHe has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³‘Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel; ^aHe is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴‘So everyone who remains, at whatever place he may sojourn, let the men of ¹that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

Articles from Yahweh’s House Brought to Jerusalem

⁵Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, ^athat is of everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem. ⁶All those around them ^1,astrengthened them with articles of silver, with gold, with possessions, with cattle, and with precious things, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. ^7aAlso King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of Yahweh, ^bwhich Nebuchadnezzar had brought out from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; ⁸and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to ^aSheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. ⁹Now this was their number: 30 ^agold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 ¹duplicates; ¹⁰30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. ¹¹All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

The Exiles Who Returned

2^aNow these are the ¹people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken away into exile to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city. ²¹These came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, ²Seraiah, ³Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, ⁴Mispar, Bigvai, ⁵Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

³the sons of Parosh, 2,172; ⁴the sons of Shephatiah, 372; ⁵the sons of ^aArah, 775; ⁶the sons of ^aPahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812; ⁷the sons of Elam, 1,254; ⁸the sons of Zattu, 945; ⁹the sons of Zaccai, 760; ¹⁰the sons of ¹Bani, 642; ¹¹the sons of Bebai, 623; ¹²the sons of Azgad, 1,222; ¹³the sons of ^aAdonikam, 666; ¹⁴the sons of Bigvai, 2,056; ¹⁵the sons of Adin, 454; ¹⁶the sons of Ater of Hezekiah, 98; ¹⁷the sons of Bezai, 323; ¹⁸the sons of ¹Jorah, 112; ¹⁹the sons of Hashum, 223; ²⁰the sons of ¹Gibbar, 95; ²¹the sons of ^aBethlehem, 123; ²²the men of Netophah, 56; ²³the men of Anathoth, 128; ²⁴the sons of ¹Azmaveth, 42; ²⁵the sons of ¹Kiriath-arim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743; ²⁶the sons of ^aRamah and Geba, 621; ²⁷the men of Michmas, 122; ²⁸the men of Bethel and Ai, 223; ²⁹the sons of Nebo, 52; ³⁰the sons of Magbish, 156; ³¹the sons of the other Elam, 1,254; ³²the sons of Harim, 320; ³³the sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 725; ³⁴the ¹men of ^aJericho, 345; ³⁵the sons of Senaah, 3,630.

^36aThe priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;

³⁷the sons of ^aImmer, 1,052; ^38athe sons of Pashhur, 1,247; ³⁹the sons of ^aHarim, 1,017.

⁴⁰The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of ¹Hodaviah, 74.

⁴¹The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128.

⁴²The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, in all 139.

⁴³The ^atemple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁴the sons of Keros, the sons of ¹Siaha, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁵the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, ⁴⁶the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, the sons of Hanan, ⁴⁷the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, ⁴⁸the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, ⁴⁹the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, ⁵⁰the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of ¹Nephisim, ⁵¹the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵²the sons of ¹Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵³the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁴the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁵The sons of ^aSolomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of ¹Hassophereth, the sons of ²Peruda,

⁵⁶the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁷the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of ¹Ami.

⁵⁸All the ^atemple servants and the sons of ^bSolomon’s servants were 392.

⁵⁹Now these are those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, ¹Addan, and Immer, but they were not able to declare their fathers’ households and their fathers’ seed, whether they were of Israel: ⁶⁰the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 652. ⁶¹Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of ^aBarzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was called by their name. ⁶²These searched in their genealogical records, but they could not be found; ^atherefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. ⁶³The ¹governor said to them ^athat they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest stood with ^bUrim and Thummim.

⁶⁴The whole assembly together was 42,360, ⁶⁵besides their male and female slaves of whom there were 7,337; and they had 200 ^amale and female singers. ⁶⁶Their horses were 736; their mules, 245; ⁶⁷their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720.

⁶⁸Some of the heads of fathers’ households, when they arrived at the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem, gave a freewill offering for the house of God to ¹restore it on its foundation. ⁶⁹According to their ability, they gave ^ato the treasury for the work 61,000 gold ¹drachmas and 5,000 silver ²minas and 100 priestly tunics.

^70aSo the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

1 John 3 - 4

Children of God, Love One Another

3See ^1,ahow great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called ^bchildren of God; and we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because ^cit did not know Him. ^2aBeloved, now we are ^bchildren of God, and ^cit has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He ^dis manifested, we will be ^elike Him, because we will ^fsee Him just as He is. ³And everyone who has this ^ahope fixed on Him ^bpurifies himself, just as He is pure.

⁴Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and ^asin is lawlessness. ⁵And you know that He ^awas manifested in order to ^btake away sins, and ^cin Him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in Him ^asins; no one who sins has seen Him or ^1,bhas come to know Him. ^7aLittle children, let no one ^bdeceive you. ^cThe one who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. ⁸The one who does sin is ^aof the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. ^bThe Son of God ^cwas manifested for this purpose, ^dto destroy the works of the devil. ⁹Everyone who has been ^1,aborn of God ^bdoes not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been ²born of God. ¹⁰By this the ^achildren of God and the ^bchildren of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who ^cdoes not love his ^dbrother.

^11aFor this is the message ^bwhich you have heard from the beginning, ^cthat we should love one another; ¹²not as ^aCain, who was of ^bthe evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because ^chis deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

¹³Do not marvel, brothers, if ^athe world hates you. ¹⁴We know that we have ^apassed out of death into life, ^bbecause we love the brothers. The one who does not love abides in death. ¹⁵Everyone who ^ahates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^bno murderer has eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶By this we have known love, that ^aHe laid down His life for us; and ^bwe ought to lay down our lives for the ^cbrothers. ¹⁷But ^awhoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and ^bcloses his ¹heart ²against him, ^chow does the love of God abide in him? ^18aLittle children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ^btruth. ¹⁹And by this we will know that we are ^aof the truth, and will ¹assure our heart before Him ²⁰¹in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. ^21aBeloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have ^bconfidence ¹before God; ²²and ^awhatever we ask we receive from Him, because we ^bkeep His commandments and do ^cthe things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³And this is His commandment, that we ^1,abelieve in ^bthe name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as ^cHe gave a commandment to us. ²⁴And the one who ^akeeps His commandments ^babides in Him, and He in him. ^cWe know by this that ^dHe abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us.

Test the Spirits

4^aBeloved, do not believe every ^bspirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because ^cmany false prophets have gone out into the world. ²By this you know the Spirit of God: ^aevery spirit that ^bconfesses that ^cJesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³and every spirit that ^adoes not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the ^bantichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and ^cnow it is already in the world. ⁴You are from God, ^alittle children, and ^bhave overcome them; because ^cgreater is He who is in you than ^dhe who is in the world. ^5aThey are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them. ^6aWe are from God. ^bThe one who knows God hears us; ^cthe one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know ^dthe spirit of truth and ^ethe spirit of error.

God Is Love

^7aBeloved, let us ^blove one another, for love is from God; and ^ceveryone who loves has been ^1,dborn of God and ^eknows God. ⁸The one who does not love does not know God, because ^aGod is love. ⁹By this the love of God was manifested ^1,ain us, that ^bGod has sent His ²only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰In this is love, ^anot that we have loved God, but that ^bHe loved us and sent His Son to be ^cthe propitiation for our sins. ^11aBeloved, if God so loved us, ^bwe also ought to love one another. ^12aNo one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His ^blove is perfected in us. ^13aBy this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴We have beheld and ^abear witness that the Father has ^bsent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

^15aWhoever confesses that ^bJesus is the Son of God, God ^cabides in him, and he in God. ^16aAnd we have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^bin us. ^cGod is love, and the one who ^dabides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷By this, ^alove has been perfected with us, so that we may have ^bconfidence in ^cthe day of judgment, because ^das He is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love; but ^aperfect love casts out fear, because fear ¹involves punishment, and the one who fears is not ^bperfected in love. ^19aWe love, because He first loved us. ^20aIf someone says, “I love God,” and ^bhates his brother, he is a ^cliar; for ^dthe one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^ecannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹And ^athis commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God ^bshould love his brother also.

Proverbs 28

28The wicked ^aflee when there is no one pursuing,But the righteous are ¹secure as a lion.²By the transgression of a land ^amany are its princes,But ^bby a man who understands, who knows, so it endures.³A ^apoor man who oppresses the lowlyIs a driving rain ¹which leaves no food.⁴Those who forsake the law ^apraise the wicked,But those who keep the law ^bstrive with them.⁵Evil men ^ado not understand justice,But those who seek Yahweh ^bunderstand all things.^6aBetter is the poor who walks in his integrityThan he who is crooked—¹double dealing—though he be rich.⁷He who observes the law is a son who understands,But he who befriends ^agluttons humiliates his father.⁸He who increases his wealth by ^ainterest and usuryGathers it ^bfor him who is gracious to the lowly.⁹He who turns away his ear from listening to the law,Even his ^aprayer is an abomination.¹⁰He who leads the upright astray in an evil wayWill ^ahimself fall into his own pit,But the ^bblameless will inherit good.¹¹The rich man is ^awise in his own eyes,But the lowly who understands ¹searches him.¹²When the ^arighteous exult, there is great honor,But ^bwhen the wicked rise, man has to be sought out.¹³He who ^aconceals his transgressions will not prosper,But he who ^bconfesses and forsakes them will receive compassion.¹⁴How blessed is the man who ^ais always in dread,But he who ^bhardens his heart will fall into calamity.¹⁵Like a ^aroaring lion and a rushing bearIs a ^bwicked ruler over a poor people.¹⁶A ^aleader who lacks discernment abounds in oppressions,But he who hates greedy gain will prolong his days.¹⁷A man ^aoppressed with ^bthe bloodguilt of lifeWill flee until ¹death; let no one uphold him.¹⁸He who walks blamelessly will be saved,But he who is ^acrooked—¹double dealing—will fall all at once.^19aHe who cultivates his ground will be ^bsatisfied with food,But he who pursues empty things will be satisfied with poverty.²⁰A ^afaithful man will abound with blessings,But he who ^bmakes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.²¹To ^1,ashow partiality is not good,^bEven for a piece of bread a man will transgress.²²A man with an ^aevil eye ^bhurries after wealthAnd does not know that want will come upon him.²³He who ^areproves a man will afterward find more favorThan he who ^bflatters with the tongue.²⁴He who ^arobs his father or his motherAnd says, “It is not a transgression,”Is the ^bcompanion of a man who destroys.²⁵An ¹arrogant man ^astirs up strife,But he who ^btrusts in Yahweh ^cwill ²be enriched.²⁶He who ^atrusts in his own heart is a fool,But he who walks wisely will escape.²⁷He who ^agives to the poor will never want,But he who ¹shuts his eyes will have many curses.²⁸When the wicked rise, men hide themselves;But when they perish, the righteous increase.