The Decree of Darius

6 Then Darius the king made a decree, and ^(A)search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. ² And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is ^(B)in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. ³ In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits^[a] and its breadth sixty cubits, ^4 (C)with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. ⁵ And also ^(D)let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.”

⁶ “Now therefore, ^(E)Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, ^(F)and your^[b] associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. ⁷ Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. ⁸ Moreover, ^(G)I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. ⁹ And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, ¹⁰ that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven ^(H)and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹ Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and ^(I)his house shall be made a dunghill. ¹² May the God ^(J)who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

The Temple Finished and Dedicated

¹³ Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, ^(K)Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. ^14 (L)And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and ^(M)by decree of Cyrus and ^(N)Darius and ^(O)Artaxerxes king of Persia; ¹⁵ and this house was finished on the third day of the ^(P)month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶ And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the ^(Q)dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷ They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel ^(R)12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ And they set the priests ^(S)in their divisions and the Levites ^(T)in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, ^(U)as it is written in the Book of Moses.

Passover Celebrated

^19 (V)On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. ^20 (W)For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. ^(X)So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. ²¹ It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and ^(Y)also by every one who had joined them and separated himself ^(Z)from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. ²² And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread ^(AA)seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful ^(AB)and had turned the heart of ^(AC)the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra Sent to Teach the People

7 Now after this, ^(AD)in the reign of ^(AE)Artaxerxes king of Persia, ^(AF)Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 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 Aaron the chief priest— ⁶ this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe ^(AG)skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, ^(AH)for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

⁷ And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and ^(AI)some of the priests and ^(AJ)Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple ^(AK)servants. ⁸ And Ezra^[c] came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹ For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, ^(AL)for the good hand of his God was on him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it ^(AM)and to ^(AN)teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

¹¹ This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: ¹² “Artaxerxes, ^(AO)king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the ^(AP)scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace.^{[d] (AQ)}And now ^13 (AR)I make a decree that anyone 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 ^(AS)and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵ and also to carry the silver and gold that the king ^(AT)and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, ^(AU)whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ^16 (AV)with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and ^(AW)with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and ^(AX)you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Whatever seems good to you and your brothers 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, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury.

²¹ “And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, ²² up to 100 talents^[e] of silver, 100 cors^[f] of wheat, 100 baths^[g] of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. ²³ Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. ²⁴ We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose ^(AY)tribute, custom, or toll on anyone 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 wisdom of your God that is in your hand, ^(AZ)appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. ^(BA)And those who do not know them, you shall teach. ²⁶ Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”

^27 (BB)Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, ^(BC)who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, ^28 (BD)and who extended to me his 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 on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

Genealogy of Those Who Returned with Ezra

8 These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: ² Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of ^(BE)Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, ^(BF)Hattush. ³ Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of ^(BG)Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men. ^4 (BH)Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men. ⁵ Of the sons of Zattu,^[h] Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. ⁶ Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men. ⁷ Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. ⁸ Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men. ⁹ Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men. ¹⁰ Of the sons of Bani,^[i] Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men. ^11 (BI)Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men. ¹² Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men. ¹³ Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men. ¹⁴ Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

Ezra Sends for Levites

¹⁵ I gathered them to the river that runs to ^(BJ)Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there ^(BK)none of the sons of Levi. ¹⁶ Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and ^(BL)Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, ¹⁷ and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and^[j] the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. ¹⁸ And ^(BM)by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of ^(BN)Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; ¹⁹ also ^(BO)Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of ^(BP)the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; ^20 (BQ)besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all ^(BR)mentioned by name.

Fasting and Prayer for Protection

^21 (BS)Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river ^(BT)Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, ^(BU)to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ^(BV)“The hand of our God is for good on ^(BW)all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Priests to Guard Offerings

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: ^(BX)Sherebiah, ^(BY)Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. ²⁵ And I weighed out to them the ^(BZ)silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his ^(CA)counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. ^26 (CB)I weighed out into their hand 650 talents^[k] of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents,^[l] and 100 talents of gold, ²⁷ 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics,^[m] and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, ^(CC)“You are holy to the Lord, and ^(CD)the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. ²⁹ Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, ^(CE)within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites ^(CF)took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

³¹ Then we departed from the river Ahava ^(CG)on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. ^(CH)The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. ^32 (CI)We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. ³³ On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were ^(CJ)weighed into the hands of ^(CK)Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, ^(CL)Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of ^(CM)Binnui. ³⁴ The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

³⁵ At that time ^(CN)those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, ^(CO)twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ^36 (CP)They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's ^(CQ)satraps^[n] and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that ^(A)in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be ^(B)lovers of self, ^(C)lovers of money, ^(D)proud, ^(E)arrogant, abusive, ^(F)disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ^3 (G)heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, ^(H)not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, ^(I)swollen with conceit, ^(J)lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but ^(K)denying its power. ^(L)Avoid such people. ⁶ For among them are ^(M)those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷ always learning and never able to ^(N)arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as ^(O)Jannes and Jambres ^(P)opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, ^(Q)men corrupted in mind and ^(R)disqualified regarding the faith. ⁹ But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, ^(S)as was that of those two men.

All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God

^10 (T)You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹ my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me ^(U)at Antioch, ^(V)at Iconium, and ^(W)at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet ^(X)from them all ^(Y)the Lord rescued me. ¹² Indeed, all who desire to ^(Z)live a godly life in Christ Jesus ^(AA)will be persecuted, ¹³ while ^(AB)evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and ^(AC)being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, ^(AD)continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom^[a] you learned it ¹⁵ and how ^(AE)from childhood you have been acquainted with ^(AF)the sacred writings, ^(AG)which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ^16 (AH)All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that ^(AI)the man of God^[b] may be complete, ^(AJ)equipped ^(AK)for every good work.