1 In the first year of Cyrus, king of the Persians, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of the Persians, so that the word of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah would be fulfilled. And he sent out a voice, throughout his entire kingdom, and also in writing, saying:
2 Thus says Cyrus, the king of the Persians: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me, and he himself has instructed me that I should build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judea.
3 Who among you is from his entire people? May his God be with him. Let him ascend to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and let him build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem.
4 And let all who remain, in all the places wherever they may live, assist him, each man from his place, with silver and gold, and goods and cattle, in addition to whatever they may offer voluntarily to the temple of God, which is in Jerusalem.”
5 And the leaders of the fathers from Judah and from Benjamin, with the priests, and the Levites, and all those whose spirit was stirred by God, rose up, so that they might ascend to build the temple of the Lord, which was in Jerusalem.
6 And all those who were all around assisted their hands with vessels of silver and gold, with goods and cattle, with equipment, in addition to whatever they had offered freely.
7 Likewise, king Cyrus offered the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.
8 Now Cyrus, king of Persia, offered these by the hand of Mithredath, the son of the treasurer, and he counted these out to Sheshbazzar, the leader of Judah.
9 And this is their number: thirty gold bowls, one thousand silver bowls, twenty-nine knives, thirty gold cups,
10 four hundred ten of a second kind of silver cup, one thousand other vessels.
11 All the vessels of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. Sheshbazzar brought all these, with those who ascended from the transmigration of Babylon, into Jerusalem.
1 Now these are the sons of the province, who ascended from the captivity, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had transferred to Babylon, and who were returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his own city.
2 They arrived with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
3 The sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred seventy-two.
4 The sons of Shephatiah, three hundred seventy-two.
5 The sons of Arah, seven hundred seventy-five.
6 The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred twelve.
7 The sons of Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
8 The sons of Zattu, nine hundred forty-five.
9 The sons of Zaccai, seven hundred sixty.
10 The sons of Bani, six hundred forty-two.
11 The sons of Bebai, six hundred twenty-three.
12 The sons of Azgad, one thousand two hundred twenty-two.
13 The sons of Adonikam, six hundred sixty-six.
14 The sons of Bigvai, two thousand fifty-six.
15 The sons of Adin, four hundred fifty-four.
16 The sons of Ater, who were of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.
17 The sons of Bezai, three hundred twenty-three.
18 The sons of Jorah, one hundred twelve.
19 The sons of Hashum, two hundred twenty-three.
20 The sons of Gibbar, ninety-five.
21 The sons of Bethlehem, one hundred twenty-three.
22 The men of Netophah, fifty-six.
23 The men of Anathoth, one hundred twenty-eight.
24 The sons of Azmaveth, forty-two.
25 The sons of Kiriatharim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty-three.
26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, six hundred twenty-one.
27 The men of Michmas, one hundred twenty-two.
28 The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred twenty-three.
29 The sons of Nebo, fifty-two.
30 The sons of Magbish, one hundred fifty-six.
31 The sons of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-five.
32 The sons of Harim, three hundred twenty.
33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty-five.
34 The sons of Jericho, three hundred forty-five.
35 The sons of Senaah, three thousand six hundred thirty.
36 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy-three.
37 The sons of Immer, one thousand fifty-two.
38 The sons of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred forty-seven.
39 The sons of Harim, one thousand seventeen.
40 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, seventy-four.
41 The singing men: the sons of Asaph, one hundred twenty-eight.
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1 While Ephraim was speaking, a horror entered Israel, and he offended by Baal, and he died.
2 And now they add that they will be sinning more. And they have made themselves an image cast from their silver, just like the image of idols; but the whole thing has been made by craftsmen. These say to them, “Sacrifice men, you who adore calves.”
3 For this reason, they will be like the morning clouds, and like the morning dew that passes away, just like the dust that is driven by a whirlwind away from the threshing floor, and like the smoke from a chimney.
4 But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, and you will not know God apart from me, and there is no Savior except me.
5 I knew you in the desert, in the land of solitude.
6 According to their pastures, they have been filled up and have been satisfied. And they have lifted up their heart, and they have forgotten me.
7 And I will be to them like a lioness, like a leopard in the way of the Assyrians.
8 I will run to meet them like a bear that has been robbed of her young, and I will split open the middle of their liver. And I will devour them there like a lion; the beast of the field will tear them apart.
9 Perdition is yours, Israel. Your help is only in me.
10 Where is your king? Now, especially, let him save you in all your cities, and from your judges, about whom you said, “Give me kings and princes.”
11 I will give you a king in my wrath, and I will take him away in my indignation.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim has been bound; his sin has been engulfed.
13 The pains of giving birth will reach him. He is an unwise son. For now he will not remain firm during the contrition of his sons.
14 I will free them from the hand of death; from death I will redeem them. Death, I will be your death. Hell, I will be your deadly wound. Consolation is hidden from my eyes.
15 For he will make a division among brothers. The Lord will bring a burning wind, rising up from the desert, and it will dry up his streams, and it will make his fountain desolate, and he will tear apart every collection of desirable useful things.
1 Let Samaria perish, because she has urged her God towards bitterness. Let them perish by the sword, let their little ones be thrown down, and let their pregnant women be cut in two.
2 Israel, convert to the Lord your God. For you have been ruined by your own iniquity.
3 Take these words with you and return to the Lord. And say to him, “Remove all iniquity and accept the good. And we will repay the calves of our lips.
4 Assur will not save us; we will not ride on horses. Neither will we say any more, ‘The works of our hands are our gods,’ for those that are in you will have mercy on the orphan.”
5 I will heal their contrition; I will love them spontaneously. For my wrath has been turned away from them.
6 I will be like the dew; Israel will spring forth like the lily, and his root will spread out like that of the cedars of Lebanon.
7 His branches will advance, and his glory will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance will be like that of the cedars of Lebanon.
8 They will be converted, sitting in his shadow. They will live on wheat, and they will grow like a vine. His memorial will be like the wine of the cedars of Lebanon.
9 Ephraim will say, “What are idols to me any more?” I will listen to him, and I will set him straight like a healthy spruce tree. Your fruit has been found by me.
10 Who is wise and will understand this? Who has understanding and will know these things? For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just will walk in them, but truly, the traitors will fall in them.
30 Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.
32 He looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble: he toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 Let my speech be acceptable to him: but I will take delight in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the unjust, so that they be no more: O my soul, bless thou the Lord.
1 Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?
2 And if I am not an Apostle to others, yet still I am to you. For you are the seal of my Apostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense with those who question me is this:
4 Do we not have the authority to eat and to drink?
5 Do we not have the authority to travel around with a woman who is a sister, just as do the other Apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
6 Or is it only myself and Barnabas who do not have the authority to act in this way?
7 Who has ever served as a soldier and paid his own stipend? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat from its produce? Who pastures a flock and does not drink from the milk of the flock?
8 Am I saying these things according to man? Or does the law not also say these things?
9 For it is written in the law of Moses: “You shall not bind the mouth of an ox, while it is treading out the grain.” Is God here concerned with the oxen?
10 Or is he saying this, indeed, for our sake? These things were written specifically for us, because he who plows, ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes, too, in hope of receiving the produce.
11 If we have sown spiritual things in you, is it important if we harvest from your worldly things?
12 If others are sharers in this authority over you, why are we not more entitled? And yet we have not used this authority. Instead, we bear all things, lest we give any hindrance to the Gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who work in the holy place eat the things that are for the holy place, and that those who serve at the altar also share with the altar?
14 So, too, has the Lord ordained that those who announce the Gospel should live by the Gospel.
15 Yet I have used none of these things. And I have not written so that these things may be done for me. For it is better for me to die, rather than to let anyone empty out my glory.
16 For if I preach the Gospel, it is not glory for me. For an obligation has been laid upon me. And woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel.
17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward. But if I do this reluctantly, a dispensation is granted to me.
18 And what, then, would be my reward? So, when preaching the Gospel, I should give the Gospel without taking, so that I may not misuse my authority in the Gospel.
19 For when I was a free man to all, I made myself the servant of all, so that I might gain all the more.
20 And so, to the Jews, I became like a Jew, so that I might gain the Jews.
21 To those who are under the law, I became as if I were under the law, (though I was not under the law) so that I might gain those who were under the law. To those who were without the law, I became as if I were without the law, (though I was not without the law of God, being in the law of Christ) so that I might gain those who were without the law.
22 To the weak, I became weak, so that I might gain the weak. To all, I became all, so that I might save all.
23 And I do everything for the sake of the Gospel, so that I may become its partner.
24 Do you not know that, of those who run in a race, all of them, certainly, are runners, but only one achieves the prize. Similarly, you must run, so that you may achieve.
25 And one who competes in a contest abstains from all things. And they do this, of course, so that they may achieve a corruptible crown. But we do this, so that we may achieve what is incorruptible.
26 And so I run, but not with uncertainty. And so I fight, but not by flailing in the air.
27 Instead, I chastise my body, so as to redirect it into servitude. Otherwise, I might preach to others, but become myself an outcast.