Ezra 8-10; Psalms 47 - Prayer Tents

Exiles Who Returned with Ezra

8Here is a list of the family leaders and the genealogies of those who came with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes.H7218H1H3187H5927H894H4438H783H4428 2From the family of Phinehas: Gershom. From the family of Ithamar: Daniel. From the family of David: Hattush,H1121H6372H1647H1121H385H1840H1121H1732H2407 3a descendant of Shecaniah. From the family of Parosh: Zechariah and 150 other men were registered.H1121H7935H1121H6551H2148H3187H2145H3967H2572 4From the family of Pahath-moab: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah and 200 other men.H1121H6355H454H1121H2228H3967H2145 5From the family of Zattu: Shecaniah son of Jahaziel and 300 other men.H1121H7935H1121H3166H7969H3967H2145 6From the family of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan and 50 other men.H1121H5720H5651H1121H3129H2572H2145 7From the family of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah and 70 other men.H1121H5867H3470H1121H6271H7657H2145 8From the family of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael and 80 other men.H1121H8203H2069H1121H4317H8084H2145 9From the family of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel and 218 other men.H1121H3097H5662H1121H3171H3967H8083H6240H2145 10From the family of Bani: Shelomith son of Josiphiah and 160 other men.H1121H8019H1121H3131H3967H8346H2145 11From the family of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai and 28 other men.H1121H893H2148H1121H893H6242H8083H2145 12From the family of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan and 110 other men.H1121H5803H3110H1121H6997H3967H6235H2145 13From the family of Adonikam, who came later: Eliphelet, Jeuel, Shemaiah, and 60 other men.H314H1121H140H8034H467H3273H8098H8346H2145 14From the family of Bigvai: Uthai, Zaccur, and 70 other men.H1121H902H5793H2072H2139H7657H2145

Ezra’s Journey to Jerusalem

15I assembled the exiles at the Ahava Canal, and we camped there for three days while I went over the lists of the people and the priests who had arrived. I found that not one Levite had volunteered to come along.H6908H5104H935H163H2583H7969H3117H995H5971H3548H4672H1121H3878 16So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders of the people. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of discernment.H7971H461H740H8098H494H3402H494H5416H2148H4918H7218H3114H494H995 17I sent them to Iddo, the leader of the Levites at Casiphia, to ask him and his relatives and the Temple servants to send us ministers for the Temple of God at Jerusalem.H6680H3318H112H7218H4725H3703H7760H6310H1697H1696H112H251H5411H5411H4725H3703H935H8334H1004H430 18Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they sent us a man named Sherebiah, along with eighteen of his sons and brothers. He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mahli, who was a descendant of Levi son of Israel.H2896H3027H430H935H376H7922H1121H4249H1121H3878H1121H3478H8274H1121H251H8083H6240 19They also sent Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and twenty of his sons and brothers,H2811H3470H1121H4847H251H1121H6242 20and 220 Temple servants. The Temple servants were assistants to the Levites—a group of Temple workers first instituted by King David and his officials. They were all listed by name.H5411H1732H8269H5414H5656H3881H3967H6242H5411H5344H8034 21And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled.H7121H6685H5104H163H6031H6440H430H1245H3477H1870H2945H7399 22For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, "Our God's hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him."H954H7592H4428H2428H6571H5826H341H1870H559H4428H559H3027H430H2896H1245H5797H639H5800 23So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.H6684H1245H430H6279 24I appointed twelve leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten other priests—H914H8147H6240H8269H3548H8274H2811H6235H251 25to be in charge of transporting the silver, the gold, the gold bowls, and the other items that the king, his council, his officials, and all the people of Israel had presented for the Temple of God.H8254H3701H2091H3627H8641H1004H430H4428H3289H8269H3478H4672H7311 26I weighed the treasure as I gave it to them and found the totals to be as follows: 24 tons of silver, 7,500 pounds of silver articles, 7,500 pounds of gold,H8254H3027H8337H3967H2572H3603H3701H3701H3627H3967H3603H2091H3967H3603 2720 gold bowls, equal in value to 1,000 gold coins, 2 fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.H6242H3713H2091H505H150H8147H3627H2896H6668H5178H2532H2091 28And I said to these priests, "You and these treasures have been set apart as holy to the LORD. This silver and gold is a voluntary offering to the LORD, the God of our ancestors.H559H6944H3068H3627H6944H3701H2091H5071H3068H430H1 29Guard these treasures well until you present them to the leading priests, the Levites, and the leaders of Israel, who will weigh them at the storerooms of the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem."H8245H8104H8254H6440H8269H3548H3881H8269H1H3478H3389H3957H1004H3068 30So the priests and the Levites accepted the task of transporting these treasures of silver and gold to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.H6901H3548H3881H4948H3701H2091H3627H935H3389H1004H430 31We broke camp at the Ahava Canal on April 19 and started off to Jerusalem. And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way.H5265H5104H163H8147H6240H7223H2320H3212H3389H3027H430H5337H3709H341H693H1870 32So we arrived safely in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days.H935H3389H3427H7969H3117 33On the fourth day after our arrival, the silver, gold, and other valuables were weighed at the Temple of our God and entrusted to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest and to Eleazar son of Phinehas, along with Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui—both of whom were Levites.H7243H3117H3701H2091H3627H8254H1004H430H3027H4822H1121H223H3548H499H1121H6372H3107H1121H3442H5129H1121H1131H3881 34Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the total weight was officially recorded.H4557H4948H4948H3789H6256 35Then the exiles who had come out of captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They presented twelve bulls for all the people of Israel, as well as ninety-six rams and seventy-seven male lambs. They also offered twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was given as a burnt offering to the LORD.H1121H1473H935H7628H7126H5930H430H3478H8147H6240H6499H3478H8673H8337H352H7657H7651H3532H8147H6240H6842H2403H5930H3068 36The king's decrees were delivered to his highest officers and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, who then cooperated by supporting the people and the Temple of God.H5414H4428H1881H4428H323H6346H5676H5104H5375H5971H1004H430

Ezra’s Prayer concerning Intermarriage

9When these things had been done, the Jewish leaders came to me and said, "Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.H3615H8269H5066H559H5971H3478H3548H3881H914H5971H776H8441H3669H2850H6522H2983H5984H4125H4713H567 2For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. Worse yet, the leaders and officials have led the way in this outrage."H5375H1323H1121H6944H2233H6148H5971H776H3027H8269H5461H7223H4604 3When I heard this, I tore my cloak and my shirt, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down utterly shocked.H8085H1697H7167H899H4598H4803H8181H7218H2206H3427H8074 4Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel came and sat with me because of this outrage committed by the returned exiles. And I sat there utterly appalled until the time of the evening sacrifice.H622H2730H1697H430H3478H4604H1473H3427H8074H6153H4503 5At the time of the sacrifice, I stood up from where I had sat in mourning with my clothes torn. I fell to my knees and lifted my hands to the LORD my God.H6153H4503H6965H8589H7167H899H4598H3766H1290H6566H3709H3068H430 6I prayed, "O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens.H559H430H954H3637H7311H6440H430H5771H7235H4605H7218H819H1431H8064 7From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today.H3117H1H1419H819H3117H5771H4428H3548H5414H3027H4428H776H2719H7628H961H1322H6440H3117 8"But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the LORD our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery.H4592H7281H8467H3068H430H7604H6413H5414H3489H6944H4725H430H215H5869H5414H4592H4241H5659 9For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.H5650H430H5800H5659H5186H2617H6440H4428H6539H5414H4241H7311H1004H430H5975H2723H5414H1447H3063H3389 10"And now, O our God, what can we say after all of this? For once again we have abandoned your commands!H430H559H310H5800H4687 11Your servants the prophets warned us when they said, 'The land you are entering to possess is totally defiled by the detestable practices of the people living there. From one end to the other, the land is filled with corruption.H6680H3027H5650H5030H559H776H935H3423H5079H776H5079H5971H776H8441H4390H6310H6310H2932 12Don't let your daughters marry their sons! Don't take their daughters as wives for your sons. Don't ever promote the peace and prosperity of those nations. If you follow these instructions, you will be strong and will enjoy the good things the land produces, and you will leave this prosperity to your children forever.'H5414H1323H1121H5375H1323H1121H1875H7965H2896H5704H5769H2388H398H2898H776H3423H1121H5769 13"Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less than we deserve, for you, our God, have allowed some of us to survive as a remnant.H310H935H7451H4639H1419H819H430H2820H4295H5771H5414H6413 14But even so, we are again breaking your commands and intermarrying with people who do these detestable things. Won't your anger be enough to destroy us, so that even this little remnant no longer survives?H7725H6565H4687H2859H5971H8441H599H3615H7611H6413 15O LORD, God of Israel, you are just. We come before you in our guilt as nothing but an escaped remnant, though in such a condition none of us can stand in your presence."H3068H430H3478H6662H7604H6413H3117H6440H819H5975H6440