Old/New Testament

Worship Begins

3 When the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man in Jerusalem. ² Then Jozadak’s son Jeshua and his brothers the religious leaders, and Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel and his brothers, built the altar of the God of Israel, to give burnt gifts on it. They did this as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. ³ So they set up the altar in its place, for they were afraid because of the peoples of the lands. On it they gave burnt gifts in worship to the Lord morning and evening. ⁴ They kept the Special Supper of Tents, as it is written. They gave the right number of burnt gifts every day by the Law, as was needed for each day. ⁵ After that they gave the gifts to be burned day and night and for the new moons, and for all the special times of the Lord, and the gifts from every one who brought a free-will gift to the Lord. ⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they began to give burnt gifts to the Lord. But the house of the Lord had not begun to be built. ⁷ So they gave money to the men who worked with stone and wood. They gave food, drink and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians so the cedar wood could be brought from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, as King Cyrus of Persia had allowed them.

Work on the House of God Begins

⁸ In the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the religious leaders and Levites, and all who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, began the work. And they chose the Levites from twenty years old and older to watch over the work of the Lord’s house. ⁹ Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, together watched over the workmen in the house of God. ¹⁰ When the builders had begun building the house of the Lord, the religious leaders stood in their religious clothing blowing horns. The Levites, the sons of Asaph, stood with brass noise-makers. And they praised the Lord, as they had been told by King David of Israel. ¹¹ They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His loving-kindness is upon Israel forever.” All the people called out with a loud voice when they praised the Lord because the work on the house of the Lord had begun. ¹² But many of the religious leaders and Levites and heads of the family groups were old men who had seen the first house of the Lord. And they cried with a loud voice when the work of this house was begun in front of their eyes. But many called out for joy in a loud voice. ¹³ The people could not tell the difference between the sound of joy and the sound of crying. For the people called out with a loud voice, and the sound was heard far away.

People of the Land Try to Keep the Jews from Building

4 Now those who hated Judah and Benjamin heard that the people had returned from Babylon and were building a house of worship to the Lord God of Israel. ² They came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the family groups and said to them, “Let us build with you. For we worship your God as you do. We have been giving gifts to Him since the days of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.” ³ But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the family groups of Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God. But we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus of Persia has told us to do.” ⁴ Then the people of the land made the hearts of the people of Judah weak, and made them afraid to go on building. ⁵ They paid people to speak against them and to make trouble in their plans all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the rule of King Darius of Persia.

People of the Land Do Not Want Jerusalem Built Up Again

⁶ In the beginning of Ahasuerus’ rule, people of the land wrote that the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem had done something wrong.

⁷ During Artaxerxes’ rule, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of their friends wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia. The letter was written in the Aramaic language. ⁸ Rehum the captain and Shimshai the writer wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes. ⁹ It was written by Rehum the captain and Shimshai the writer and the rest of their friends, the judges, the leaders and important men, the men of Erech, Babylon, Shusha (that is, the Elamites), ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations. The people of these nations were sent away by the great and honored Osnappar, and made their home in the city of Samaria and in the rest of the land on the other side of the Euphrates River. Now ¹¹ this is what they said in their letter to him: “To King Artaxerxes, your servants, the men in the land on the other side of the River, ¹² let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to Jerusalem. They are building again the sinful city that is not willing to be ruled. They are finishing the walls and beginning the work on the buildings. ¹³ Now let it be known to the king that, if that city is built again and the walls are finished, they will not pay what should be paid to the king. The taxes paid to the king will be less. ¹⁴ We are under the care of the king, and it is not right for us to see the king not being honored. So we have sent to let the king know. ¹⁵ Look through the books kept by your fathers. You will find from these books that Jerusalem is not willing to be ruled, and that it is a danger to kings and lands. They have turned against kings in past times, and this is why that city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We are letting the king know that, if that city is built again and the walls are finished, you will own nothing in the land on the other side of the River.”

¹⁷ The king sent an answer to Rehum the captain, Shimshai the writer, and to the rest of their friends who live in Samaria and in the rest of the land on the other side of the River. He wrote: “Peace. ¹⁸ The letter you sent to us has been put into our language and read to me. ¹⁹ I have had men look through the books. And it has been found that the city has turned against kings in past times, and that plans against kings have been made in it. ²⁰ Powerful kings have ruled over Jerusalem, who ruled over all the lands on the other side of the River, and taxes were paid to them. ²¹ So give word to these men to make them stop the work. This city may not be built again until I allow it. ²² Be sure that you do this. Why should more trouble be given to the kings?”

²³ When the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the writer and their friends, they went in a hurry to the Jews at Jerusalem and with their power made them stop. ²⁴ Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped. It was stopped until the second year of the rule of Darius king of Persia.

Work on the House of God Starts Again

5 Now the men who spoke for God, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, spoke for God to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. They spoke in the name of the God of Israel Who was over them. ² Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak began to build again the house of God in Jerusalem. The men who spoke for God were with them and helped them. ³ Then Tattenai, the leader over the land on the other side of the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and their friends, came to them and said, “Who told you to build on this house and to finish the building?” ⁴ They also asked, “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” ⁵ But the eye of their God was on the leaders of the Jews. They did not stop them until a letter was sent to Darius about it, and a written answer received from him.

⁶ This is what was said in the letter sent to King Darius from Tattenai, the leader over the land on the other side of the River, and Shethar-bozenai and his important friends. ⁷ It said: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸ Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the land of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with very large stones, and heavy pieces of wood are being laid in the walls. This work is being done with much care and is going well in their hands. ⁹ We asked those leaders, ‘Who told you to build this house of worship and to finish the building?’ ¹⁰ We also asked them their names, that we might write down the names of their leaders and let you know. ¹¹ They answered, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are building again the house of God that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. ¹² But because our fathers had made the God of heaven angry, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed this house of God, and carried the people away to Babylon. ¹³ But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus told us to build again this house of God. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar had taken the gold and silver objects of the house of God from the house in Jerusalem, and brought them to the house of worship at Babylon. But King Cyrus took them from the house of worship at Babylon and they were given to Sheshbazzar, whom he had chosen as leader over the land. ¹⁵ He said to him, “Go, take these objects to Jerusalem and carry them into the place of worship. And let the house of God be built again in its place.” ¹⁶ Then Sheshbazzar came and began building the house of God in Jerusalem. The building has been going on from then until now, and it is not yet finished.’ ¹⁷ So now, if it pleases the king, have men look through the books kept there in Babylon to see if King Cyrus had told them to build again this house of God at Jerusalem. Let the king send us word on what is decided about this.”

Jesus Is Raised from the Grave ^(A)

20 It was the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene came to the grave early in the morning while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been pushed away from the grave. ² She ran to Simon Peter and the other follower whom Jesus loved. She said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the grave. We do not know where they have put Him.”

³ Then Peter and the other follower went to the grave. ⁴ They ran but the other follower ran faster than Peter and came to the grave first. ⁵ He got down and looked in and saw the linen cloths but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came and went into the grave. He saw the linen cloths lying there. ⁷ The white cloth that had been around the head of Jesus was not lying with the other linen cloths. It was rolled up and lying apart by itself. ⁸ Then the other follower, who had come first, went in also. He saw and believed. ⁹ They still did not understand what the Holy Writings meant when they said that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the followers went back again to their homes.

¹¹ Mary stood outside the grave crying. As she cried, she got down and looked inside the grave. ¹² She saw two angels dressed in white clothes. They were sitting where the body of Jesus had lain. One angel was where His head had lain and one angel was where His feet had lain. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord. I do not know where they have put Him.”

¹⁴ After saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ He said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” She thought He was the man who cared for the garden. She said to Him, “Sir, if you have taken Jesus from here, tell me where you have put Him. I will take Him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned around and said to Him, “Teacher!” ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to Me. I have not yet gone up to My Father. But go to My brothers. Tell them that I will go up to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God!” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and told the followers that she had seen the Lord. She told them the things He had said to her.

Jesus Was Seen by His Followers—Thomas Was Not There

¹⁹ It was evening of the first day of the week. The followers had gathered together with the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “May you have peace.” ²⁰ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the followers saw the Lord, they were filled with joy.

Jesus Sends His Followers to Preach ^(B)

²¹ Then Jesus said to them again, “May you have peace. As the Father has sent Me, I also am sending you.” ²² When Jesus had said this, He breathed on them. He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you say that people are free of sins, they are free of them. If you say that people are not free of sins, they still have them.”

Thomas Does Not Believe Jesus Is Raised from the Dead ^(C)

²⁴ Thomas was not with them when Jesus came. He was one of the twelve followers and was called the Twin. ²⁵ The other followers told him, “We have seen the Lord!” He said to them, “I will not believe until I see the marks made by the nails in His hands. I will not believe until I put my finger into the marks of the nails. I will not believe until I put my hand into His side.”

Jesus Was Seen Again by His Followers—Thomas Was There

²⁶ Eight days later the followers were again inside a house. Thomas was with them. The doors were locked. Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “May you have peace!” ²⁷ He said to Thomas, “Put your finger into My hands. Put your hand into My side. Do not doubt, believe!” ²⁸ Thomas said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you believe. Those are happy who have never seen Me and yet believe!” ³⁰ Jesus did many other powerful works in front of His followers. They are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. When you put your trust in Him, you will have life that lasts forever through His name.