Ezra 3:1-4:23 1 When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites
were living
in their
towns, the people assembled
in
Jerusalem.
2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak
and his priestly colleagues
and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues
started to build
the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by
the law of Moses the man of God.
3 They established the altar on its foundations, even though they were in terror of the local peoples,
and they offered burnt offerings on it to the
Lord, both the morning and the evening offerings.
4 They observed the Festival of Temporary Shelters
as required
and offered the proper number of
daily burnt offerings according to the requirement for each day.
5 Afterward they offered the continual burnt offerings and those for the new moons and those for all the holy assemblies of the
Lord and all those that were being voluntarily offered to the
Lord.
6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the
Lord. However, the
Lord’s temple was not at that time established.
7 So they provided money
for the masons and carpenters, and food, beverages, and olive oil for the people of Sidon
and Tyre,
so that they would bring cedar timber from Lebanon to the seaport
at Joppa, in accord with the edict of King Cyrus of Persia.
8 In the second year after they had come to the temple of God in Jerusalem,
in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak initiated the work,
along with the rest of their associates,
the priests and the Levites, and all those who were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed
the Levites who were at least twenty years old
to take charge of the work on the
Lord’s temple.
9 So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives,
Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah
), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives
the Levites.
10 When the builders established the
Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions,
and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the
Lord according to the instructions left by
King David of Israel.
11 With antiphonal response they sang,
praising and glorifying the
Lord: “For he is good; his loyal love toward Israel is forever.” All the people gave a loud
shout as they praised the
Lord when the temple of the
Lord was established.
12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders
– older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established
– were weeping loudly,
and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.
13 People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly
that the sound was heard a long way off.
1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles
were building a temple for the
Lord God of Israel,
2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders
and said to them, “Let us help you build,
for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him
from the time
of King Esarhaddon
of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right
to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the
Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”
4 Then the local people
began to discourage
the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.
5 They were hiring advisers to oppose them, so as to frustrate their plans, throughout the time
of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius
of Persia.
6 At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus
they filed an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And during the reign
of Artaxerxes, Bishlam,
Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues
wrote to King Artaxerxes
of Persia. This letter
was first written in Aramaic but then translated. [Aramaic:]
8 Rehum the commander
and Shimshai the scribe
wrote a letter concerning
Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
9 From
Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues – the judges, the rulers, the officials, the secretaries, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is,
the Elamites),
10 and the rest of nations whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal
deported and settled in the cities
of Samaria and other places in Trans-Euphrates.
11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:) “To King Artaxerxes,
from your servants in
Trans-Euphrates:
12 Now
let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and odious city.
They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations.
13 Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury
will suffer loss.
14 In light of the fact that we are loyal to the king,
and since it does not seem appropriate to us that the king should sustain damage,
we are sending the king this information
15 so that he may initiate a search of the records
of his predecessors
and discover in those records
that this city is rebellious
and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts
from long ago.
It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.
16 We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control
of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”
17 The king sent the following response: “To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and other parts of Trans-Euphrates: Greetings!
18 The letter you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence.
19 So I gave orders,
and it was determined
that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in
rebellion and revolt.
20 Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates
and who were the beneficiaries of
tribute, custom, and toll.
21 Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct.
22 Exercise appropriate caution so that there is no negligence in this matter. Why should danger increase to the point that kings sustain damage?”
23 Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem
and stopped them with threat of armed force.
Context (NET) 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4 6 Now we do speak wisdom among the mature,
but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing.
7 Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But just as it is written, “
Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
10 God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God.
13 And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.
14 The unbeliever
does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The one who is spiritual discerns
all things, yet he himself is understood
by no one.
16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 So, brothers and sisters,
I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh,
as infants in Christ.
2 I fed you milk,
not solid food, for you were not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready,
3 for you are still influenced by the flesh.
For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?
4 For whenever someone says, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” are you not merely human?
Context (NET) Psalm 28:1-9 1 By David. To you, O
Lord, I cry out! My protector,
do not ignore me!
If you do not respond to me,
I will join
those who are descending into the grave.
2 Hear my plea for mercy when I cry out to you for help, when I lift my hands
toward your holy temple!
3 Do not drag me away with evil men, with those who behave wickedly,
who talk so friendly to their neighbors,
while they plan to harm them!
4 Pay them back for their evil deeds! Pay them back for what they do! Punish them!
5 For they do not understand the
Lord’s actions, or the way he carries out justice.
The
Lord will permanently demolish them.
6 The
Lord deserves praise,
for he has heard my plea for mercy!
7 The
Lord strengthens and protects me;
I trust in him with all my heart.
I am rescued
and my heart is full of joy;
I will sing to him in gratitude.
8 The
Lord strengthens his people;
he protects and delivers his chosen king.
9 Deliver your people! Empower
the nation that belongs to you!
Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms
at all times!
Context (NET) Proverbs 20:24-25 24 The steps of a person
are ordained by
the
Lord – so how can anyone
understand his own
way?
25 It is a snare
for a person
to rashly cry,
“Holy!” and only afterward to consider
what he has vowed.
Context (NET)
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