Nehemiah 1 Cross References - ISV

¹ IntroductionIn this document, I, Hacaliah’s son Nehemiah, recount what occurred during the twentieth year of Artaxerxes.
BackgroundIn the month of Chislev, while I was in Shushan at the palace, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, about those who had survived the Babylonian captivity, and about Jerusalem.
³ They told me, “The survivors of the captivity there in the province are living in great distress and shame. Furthermore, the Jerusalem wall remains broken down and its gates have been burned by fire.”
⁴ Nehemiah’s PrayerWhen I heard this, I sat down and cried, mourning for a number of days while I fasted and prayed in the presence of the God of Heaven. ⁵ I said, “Please, LORD, God of Heaven, the great and fearsome God who keeps the covenant, showing gracious love to those who love you and keep your commands, ⁶ please turn your attention to observe carefully and listen to the prayer of your servant today that I am presenting to you day and night on behalf of your servants, the Israelis.
“I confess the sins that we Israelis have committed against you. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have abandoned you by not keeping your commands, your ceremonies, and your judgments that you proscribed to your servant Moses. ⁸ Please remember what you spoke in commanding your servant Moses. You said, ‘If you rebel, I will scatter you among the nations ⁹ but if you return to me, keeping my commands and doing them, even if your exiled people are in the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to establish my Name.’
¹⁰ These are your servants as well as your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
¹¹ “And now, Lord, I ask you to listen to the prayer of your servant—and to the prayers of your servants who delight in revering your Name. I ask you, please prosper your servant today by granting him to receive favor from this man.”
Now I was the king’s senior security advisor.

⁷ Some of the descendants of Israel also left for Jerusalem, including the priests, the descendants of Levi, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Temple Servants, during the seventh year of king Artaxerxes.

⁹ Less than three days later, all of the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together on the twentieth day of the ninth month. Everyone sat in the plaza of the Temple of God, trembling because of everything that was happening, and also because it was raining heavily.

¹ Nehemiah’s Conversation with the KingIt came about in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, during the month of Nissan, the king was about to drink some wine that I was preparing for him. Now I had never looked troubled in his presence.

¹ Signatories to the AgreementHere is a list of those who signed: Hacaliah’s son Nehemiah the governor, Zedekiah,

² At that time King Ahasuerus was ruling from Susa the capital.

¹⁵ The couriers went out, urged on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in Susa the capital. The king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

² As I observed the vision, I looked around the citadel of Susa in Elam Province. While I watched, I found myself beside the Ulai Canal.

¹ A Rebuke about Selfish FastsDuring the fourth year of the reign of King Darius, a message from the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month Kislev.

⁸ Though now, for a moment, grace has been shown from the LORD our God, leaving a few survivors to escape, and providing us a secure hold in his Holy Place, so that our God might enlighten us and give us relief from our servitude. ⁹ Even though we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our slavery. Instead, he has extended gracious love to us in the presence of the kings of Persia, to grant us revival, to set up the Temple of our God, to repair its damage, and to give us a protective wall for Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁴ should we violate your commandments by intermarrying with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you had consumed us, with not even a remnant surviving to escape?

² I appointed my brother Hanani and fortress commander Hananiah to be over Jerusalem, since he was a faithful person who revered God more than many others did.

⁶ Pray for peace for Jerusalem: “May those who love you be at peace! ⁷ May peace be within your ramparts, and prosperity within your fortresses.” ⁸ For the sake of my relatives and friends I will now say, “May there be peace within you.” ⁹ For the sake of the Temple of the LORD our God, I will seek your welfare.

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. ⁶ May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t consider Jerusalem to be more important than my highest joy.

¹⁴ Of the remnant of Judah that came into the land of Egypt to settle there, no one will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah where they long to return and live. Indeed, they won’t return, except for some refugees.’”

⁹ Your survivors will remember me among the nations where they’ll be taken captives. I’ve been crushed by their unfaithful hearts that have turned against me.

¹⁶ Fugitives will escape to the mountains like doves fleeing through the valleys, all of them moaning because of their own iniquity.

²⁶ at that time, a fugitive will come to you and will bring you the news. ²⁷ Your mouth will freely speak to the fugitive. You won’t be silent any longer. You’ll be a sign to them. Then they’ll know that I am the LORD.”

⁷ then I will eliminate Israel from the land that I gave them and from the Temple that I’ve consecrated for my name. I will throw them out of my sight, and Israel will become the butt of jokes and a means of ridicule among people worldwide!

¹⁰ The Chaldean army that accompanied the captain of the guard demolished the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

¹ A List of Those who Returned
Here is a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from the captivity, from those who had been exiled. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken them to Babylon. They came back to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his town,

⁸ This is to inform the king that we traveled to the Temple of the great God in the Judean province, which is being built with large stones and reinforced with wooden beams in its walls. The work proceeds diligently and is in capable hands.

³ I replied to the king, “May the king live forever. Why shouldn’t I be troubled, since the city where my ancestral sepulchers are located lies waste, with its gates burned by fire?”

¹³ So I went out during the night through the Valley Gate toward Dragon’s Well, and from there to the Dung Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and burned by fire.

¹⁷ Later I told them, “You all are watching the predicament we’re in, how Jerusalem lies desolate, with its gates burned by fire. Let’s rebuild the Jerusalem wall so we’re no longer a disgrace.”

⁶ a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from captivity, from those who had been exiled by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They had come back to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his town.

³⁶ “Look! Today we are your servants, along with the land that you gave to our ancestors, so they could enjoy its fruit and its value— behold, in it we are your servants! ³⁷ But now its abundant produce belongs to the kings whom you placed over us because of our sin. They also have power over our bodies and our herds at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

³ These are the leaders of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem. Some lived in the towns of Judah—each on their property in their respective towns—that is, the Israelis, the priests, the descendants of Levi, the Temple Servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants.

¹ The Wealth of King AhasuerusThis is a record of what happened during the reign of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who ruled over 127 provinces from India to Cush.

¹¹ You handed us over to be slaughtered like sheep and you scattered us among the nations. ¹² You sold out your people for nothing, and made no profit at that price. ¹³ You made us a laughing stock to our neighbors, a source of mockery and derision to those around us. ¹⁴ You made us an object lesson among the nations; people shake their heads at us.

⁴ We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and a derision to those around us.

¹ Remembering Jerusalem There we sat down and cried— by the rivers of Babylon— as we remembered Zion. ² On the willows there we hung our harps, ³ for it was there that our captors asked us for songs and our torturers demanded joy from us, “Sing us one of the songs about Zion!”

⁵ “Now, let me tell you, won’t you please, what I’m going to do to my vineyard. “I’m going to take away its protective hedge, and it will be devoured; I’ll break down its wall, and it will be trampled.

⁹ A Rebuke for Complacent Women“As for you ladies of leisure— Get up and listen to my voice! You daughters who feel so complacent— hear what I have to say! ¹⁰ In little more than a year, you complacent women will shudder; for the grape harvest will fail, and the fruit harvest will not come. ¹¹ So tremble, you ladies of leisure! Shudder, you daughters who feel so complacent! Strip down and make yourselves naked down to the waist! Then wrap yourself in sackcloth and beat your breasts. ¹² For people will be beating their breasts in mourning over the pleasant fields, over the fruitful vines, ¹³ and over the land of my people overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, over all the houses of merriment and over this city of revelry. ¹⁴ “For the palace will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; the citadel and watchtower will become barren wastes forever, the delight of wild donkeys, and a pasture for flocks,

²⁸ So I’ll disgrace the leaders of the Temple, and I’ll consign Jacob to total destruction and Israel to contempt.

¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a desert; Zion has become like a desert, Jerusalem a desolation. ¹¹ Our holy Temple and our splendor, where our ancestors praised you, have become a conflagration of fire, and all our dearest places have become ruins.

¹⁰ The People Reject God’s Warning“Go through her rows of vines and destroy them, but don’t completely destroy them. Strip away her branches, because they aren’t the LORD’s.

⁹ I’ll make them into a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth; into a cause for contempt, into a byword, into a taunt, and into a curse in all the places to which I drive them.

¹⁸ I’ll pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with plague, and I’ll make them a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth. I’ll make them a curse, an object of horror, and scorn, and a desolation in all the nations to which I’ve driven them,

⁸ The Chaldeans burned the palace and the houses of the people with fire, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁸ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn, and you will never again see this place.’

⁸ And why have you provoked me to anger by the works of your hands, by offering sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to settle so that you cut yourselves off and become an object of ridicule and scorn among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you forgotten the evil deeds of your ancestors, the evil deeds of the kings of Judah, the evil deeds of their wives, your evil deeds, and the evil deeds of your wives, that they did in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ To this day they haven’t humbled themselves, they haven’t shown reverence for the LORD, and they haven’t lived according to my Law and my statutes that I set before them and before their ancestors.’
¹¹ “Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Look, I’ve determined to bring disaster on you and to cut off all Judah. ¹² I’ll take the remnant of Judah that determined to go to the land of Egypt to settle there, and all of them will come to an end in the land of Egypt. They’ll fall by the sword, and they’ll come to an end by famine. They’ll become a curse, an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn.

¹⁴ All the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem.

⁷ Jerusalem remembers her time of affliction and misery; all her valued belongings of days gone by, when her people fell into enemy hands, with no one to help her, and her enemies stared at her, mocking her downfall.

⁶¹ LORD, you listened to their insults— all their plots against me,

¹ A Prayer for Deliverance LORD, remember what has happened to us. Pay attention, and look at our shame!

¹⁷ The messenger answered, “Israel fled from the Philistines and the people suffered a great defeat as well. Moreover, your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead, and the Ark of God was captured.”
¹⁸ When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backwards by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, since he was old and heavy. Eli had judged Israel for 40 years.
¹⁹ Ichabod is BornEli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and ready to give birth. When she heard the report about the capture of the Ark of God and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she crouched down and gave birth, because her labor pains suddenly began. ²⁰ As she was about to die, the women standing around her said, “Don’t be afraid! You’ve given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay attention. ²¹ She had named the boy Ichabod, saying, “Glory has departed from Israel,” because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. ²² She said, “Glory has departed from Israel, because the Ark of God has been captured.”

¹¹ In answer they responded, “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the Temple that was built many years ago by a great king of Israel. ¹² But because our predecessors provoked the God of Heaven to become angry, he handed them over to the control of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this Temple and transported the people to Babylon.

³ When I heard this, I tore both my garment and robe, plucked hair from both my head and my beard, and collapsed in shock!

¹ The People Gather with EzraNow while Ezra was praying and confessing in tears, having prostrated himself to the ground before the Temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelis—men, women, and children—gathered around him. Indeed, the people were crying bitterly.

⁴ The king answered, “What do you want?”
So I prayed to the God of heaven

⁹ Zeal for your house consumes me, and the mockeries of those who insult you fall on me. ¹⁰ I weep and fast, and I am mocked for it.

¹³ You will arise to extend compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor— the appointed time has come. ¹⁴ Your servants take pleasure in its stones and delight in its debris.

¹ Remembering Jerusalem There we sat down and cried— by the rivers of Babylon— as we remembered Zion.

¹⁸ Daniel was seeking mercy, in order to ask about this mystery in the presence of the God of heaven, so that Daniel and his friends might not be executed along with the rest of the advisors of Babylon.

³ “So I turned my attention to the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, accompanied with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

⁹ “I’m a Hebrew,” he replied, “and I’m afraid of the LORD God of heaven, who made the sea—along with the dry land!”

¹⁸ I will gather the afflicted from the solemn assembly; those who were with you, who were bearing a burden of disgrace.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Cry with those who are crying.

⁶ but showing gracious love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.ג

⁹ Know that the LORD your God is God, the trusted God who faithfully keeps his covenant to the thousandth generation of those who love him and obey his commands.

²¹ Don’t tremble before them, because the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

²³ and said: “LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts.

²¹ What other one nation on the earth is like your people Israel, God, which you have redeemed from slavery to become your own people, making a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You did awesome miraculous deeds, driving out nations that stood in their way.

¹⁴ Looking things over, I stood up and spoke to the officials, the military leaders, and the rest of the people: “Don’t fear them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord. Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

³² “Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and gracious love, don’t let all of the difficulties seem trifling to you, all of hardships that have come upon us, upon our kings, upon our leaders, upon our priests, upon our prophets, upon our ancestors, and upon all of your people from the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.

² For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.

⁴ I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing and saying: ‘Lord! Great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and gracious love for those who love him and obey his commandments, ⁵ we’ve sinned, we’ve practiced evil, we’ve acted wickedly, and we’ve rebelled, turning away from your commands and from your regulations. ⁶ Furthermore, we haven’t listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, to our officials, to our ancestors, and to all of the people of the land. ⁷ ‘To you, Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, open humiliation—even to this day, to the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, both those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the lands to which you drove them because of their unfaithful acts that they committed against you. ⁸ ‘Open humiliation belongs to us, LORD, to our kings, our officials, and our ancestors, because we’ve sinned against you. ⁹ But to the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we’ve rebelled against him ¹⁰ and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws that he gave us through his servants the prophets. ¹¹ And all Israel flouted your Law, turning aside from it and not obeying your voice. Because we’ve sinned against him, the curse has been poured upon us, along with the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God. ¹² ‘He has confirmed his accusation that he spoke against us and against our rulers who governed us by bringing upon us great calamity, because nowhere in the universe has anything been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³ As it’s written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has befallen us, but we still haven’t sought the LORD our God by turning from our lawlessness to pay attention to your truth. ¹⁴ So the LORD watched for the right time to bring the calamity upon us, because the LORD our God is righteous regarding everything he does, but we have not obeyed his voice. ¹⁵ ‘And now, Lord our God, who brought your people from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made a name for yourself that remains to this day—we’ve sinned. We’ve acted wickedly. ¹⁶ Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, please turn your anger and wrath away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become an embarrassment to all of those around us. ¹⁷ ‘So now, O God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his requests, and look with favor on your desolate sanctuary, for the sake of the Lord. ¹⁸ Turn your ear and listen, O God. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and at the city that is called by your name. We’re not presenting our requests before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great compassion. ¹⁹ ‘Lord, listen!‘Lord, forgive!‘Lord, take note and take action!‘For your own sake, don’t delay, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.’”

¹³ God’s Promise is ReliableFor when God made his promise to Abraham, he swore an oath by himself, since he had no one greater to swear by. ¹⁴ He said, “I will certainly bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵ And so he obtained what he had been promised, because he patiently waited for it. ¹⁶ For people swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all argument. ¹⁷ In the same way, when God wanted to make the unchangeable character of his purpose perfectly clear to the heirs of his promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by these two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge in him might be encouraged to seize the hope set before us.

¹¹ “I regret that I made Saul king, because he has turned away from following me and has not carried out my commands.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the LORD all night.

²⁸ Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. ²⁹ Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said ‘My name will reside there.’ Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction.

⁴⁰ “And now, my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers that are uttered in this place.

¹⁰ Now you’re intending to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem to be your slaves. Surely you have your own sins against the LORD your God for which you’re accountable, don’t you?

⁶ Our ancestors have been unfaithful. They practiced what the LORD considers to be evil, abandoned him, turned their faces away from the place where the LORD resides, and turned their backs to him.

⁶ and said, “My God, I am too ashamed and hurt to turn to you, because we’re in our iniquities over our heads. Furthermore, my God, our sins have grown as high as the heavens. ⁷ We have lived in great sin from the days of our ancestors even until today, and because of those iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered over to foreign kings, for execution, for captivity, for plunder, and for humiliation, as is the case today.

¹¹ Now confess this to the LORD God of your ancestors, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from foreign wives.”

⁵ My sin I acknowledged to you; my iniquity I did not hide. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin! Interlude

¹⁵ The LORD looks on the righteous, and he listens to their cries.

¹⁷ Morning, noon, and night, I mulled over these things and cried out in my distress, and he heard my voice.

¹ A song. A psalm by the descendants of Korah. According to Machalath Leannoth. An instruction by Heman the Ezrahite.
A Cry for Help LORD, God of my salvation, by day and by night I cry out before you.

⁶ We have sinned, along with our ancestors; we have committed iniquity and wickedness.

² Lord, listen to my voice; let your ears pay attention to what I ask of you!

⁵ “How terrible it will be for me!” I cried, “because I am ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips! And my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies!”

⁶ All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy rag; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our iniquities sweep us away. ⁷ There is no one who calls on your name or rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have given us into the control of our iniquity.

³⁹ Why should anyone living complain, any mortal, about being punished for sin? ⁴⁰ Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven. ⁴² As for us, we have sinned and rebelled; but you have not pardoned us.

⁷ Our ancestors sinned and no longer exist yet we continue to bear the consequences of their sin.

⁴ I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing and saying: ‘Lord! Great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and gracious love for those who love him and obey his commandments,

¹⁷ ‘So now, O God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his requests, and look with favor on your desolate sanctuary, for the sake of the Lord. ¹⁸ Turn your ear and listen, O God. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and at the city that is called by your name. We’re not presenting our requests before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great compassion.

²⁰ Gabriel’s Answer: The Seventy Weeks“While I was still speaking in prayer, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and placing my request in the presence of the LORD my God on behalf of the holy mountain of God—

³⁷ and then as a widow for 84 years. She never left the Temple, but continued to worship there night and day with times of fasting and prayer.

⁷ Won’t God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them?

³ Indeed, all of us once behaved like them in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and senses. By nature we were destined for wrath, just like everyone else.

⁵ A woman who has no other family members to care for her and who is left all alone has placed her hope in God and devotes herself to petitions and prayers night and day.

³ Paul’s Advice for TimothyI constantly thank my God—whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you in my prayers night and day,

⁹ If we make it our habit to confess our sins, in his faithful righteousness he forgives us for those sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

³⁴ These are the commands that the LORD commanded Moses to deliver to the Israelis on Mount Sinai.

¹ Moses Presents the Privileges of the Covenant“Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the ordinances that I’m teaching you to observe so you may live and go in to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is about to give you.

⁵ See! I taught you the statutes and the ordinances, just as the LORD God commanded. Therefore, observe them when you enter the land you are about to possess.

¹ The Ten Commandments
Moses called all of Israel together and told them: “Listen, Israel! Today I’m going to announce God’s laws and regulations so that you will learn them and take care to obey them.

¹ The Covenant of Love“Now these are the commands, decrees, and ordinances that the LORD commanded me to teach you. Obey them in the land you are entering to possess,

¹⁴ Do not deviate from any of his commands that I’m giving you today—neither to the right nor the left—to follow and serve other gods.”
¹⁵ Reversal of Blessings“But if you don’t obey the LORD your God and faithfully carry out all his commands and statutes that I’m giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overwhelm you.

³ by keeping the charge that the LORD your God entrusted to you. Live life his way, keep his statutes, his commands, his ordinances, and his testimonies, just as they’re written down in the Law of Moses, so that you may succeed in everything you do and wherever you go,

⁴ but he did not execute their children in obedience to what is written in the Law, the writings of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers are not to die because of what their children do, nor are children to die because of what their fathers do, but each person is to die for his own sins.”

² He practiced what the LORD considered to be right, just as his father Uzziah had done, even though he did not enter the Temple. Nevertheless, the people continued acting corruptly.

⁶ left Babylon. He was a skillful scribe of the Law of Moses that the LORD God of Israel had given. And the king granted him everything he had requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.

²⁹ You admonished them to return to your Law, but they acted arrogantly, and would not listen to your commands. They sinned against your regulations, which if anyone obeys, he will live by them. They turned away, being stubborn and stiff-necked, and they did not listen. ³⁰ You were patient with them for many years, warning them by your Spirit through your prophets. But they would not listen, so you turned them over to the control of people in other lands. ³¹ Nevertheless, in your great compassion you did not completely destroy them or abandon them, because you are a God of grace and you are merciful. ³² “Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and gracious love, don’t let all of the difficulties seem trifling to you, all of hardships that have come upon us, upon our kings, upon our leaders, upon our priests, upon our prophets, upon our ancestors, and upon all of your people from the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. ³³ You are righteous in all that is happening to us, because you have acted faithfully while we have practiced evil. ³⁴ Furthermore, neither our kings, nor our leaders, nor our priests nor our ancestors have practiced your Law or paid attention to your commands and warnings by which you admonished them. ³⁵ But they in their kingdom— in the midst of your great goodness that you gave them and in the large and fertile land that you provided them— did not serve you or turn away from their evil deeds.

⁸ The precepts of the LORD are upright, making the heart rejoice. The commandment of the LORD is pure, giving light to the eyes. ⁹ The fear of the LORD is clean, standing forever. The judgments of the LORD are true; they are altogether righteous.

⁵ Oh, that my ways were steadfast, so I may keep your statutes. ⁶ Then I will not be ashamed, since my eyes will be fixed on all of your commands. ⁷ I will praise you with an upright heart, as I learn your righteous decrees. ⁸ I will keep your statutes; do not ever abandon me.

⁵ we’ve sinned, we’ve practiced evil, we’ve acted wickedly, and we’ve rebelled, turning away from your commands and from your regulations. ⁶ Furthermore, we haven’t listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, to our officials, to our ancestors, and to all of the people of the land.

¹¹ And all Israel flouted your Law, turning aside from it and not obeying your voice. Because we’ve sinned against him, the curse has been poured upon us, along with the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God.

¹³ As it’s written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has befallen us, but we still haven’t sought the LORD our God by turning from our lawlessness to pay attention to your truth.

⁹ They have corrupted themselves deeply, as did Gibeah in its day. Therefore God will remember their lawlessness, and he will pay them back for their sins.

⁷ I have said, ‘If only you would fear me, if only you would take my instructions to heart.’ Then their houses would not have been torn down. I have chastened them, but they were eager to corrupt everything they were doing.”
The Future Deliverance of Israel

⁴ The Coming of Elijah the Prophet“Remember the Law of Moses my servant that I gave him at Horeb for all Israel—both the decrees and laws.

² His judgments are true and just. He has condemned the notorious prostitute who corrupted the world with her immorality. He has taken revenge on her for the blood of his servants.”

³³ Captivity among the Nations“I’ll scatter you among the nations and draw the sword after you so that your land becomes desolate and your towns become ruins. ³⁴ Then the land will finally be pleased with its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time, the land will rest and take its Sabbaths. ³⁵ As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest that it will not have had during your Sabbaths when you were living in it.
³⁶ “As for the remnants among you, I’ll bring despair in their hearts in the land of their enemies so that even the sound of a blown leaf will chase them and they flee as though pursued by the sword and fall when no one is pursuing. ³⁷ They’ll stumble over each other as though fleeing before the sword, even though no one is pursuing.
“You won’t have power to resist your enemies. ³⁸ You’ll perish among the nations and the land of your enemies will consume you. ³⁹ The remnants among you will waste away in the land of your enemies due to their iniquity. Indeed, they’ll also waste away on account of the iniquities of their ancestors with them.”
⁴⁰ Return from Captivity“Nevertheless, when they confess their iniquity, the iniquity of their ancestors, and their unfaithfulness by which they acted unfaithfully against me by living life contrary to me— ⁴¹ causing me to oppose them and take them to the land of their enemies so that the uncircumcised foreskin of their hearts can be humbled and so that they accept the punishment of their iniquity— ⁴² then I’ll remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham. I’ll also remember the land. ⁴³ They will leave the land so it can rest while it lies desolate without them. That’s when they’ll receive the punishment of their iniquity, because indeed they will have rejected my ordinances and despised my statutes. ⁴⁴ Yet, despite all of these things, when they’re in the land of their enemies, I won’t reject or despise them so as to completely destroy them and by doing so violate my covenant with them, because I am the LORD their God. ⁴⁵ Instead, on account of them, I’ll remember my covenant with their ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt right before the eyes of the nations, so that I could be their God. I am the LORD.”
⁴⁶ These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the LORD made between himself and the Israelis on Mount Sinai, as recorded by the hand of Moses.

²⁵ Warnings against Angering God“After you’ve borne children and grandchildren, have been there for a long time in the land, have become so corrupted that you make images of any form, and have done evil in the eyes of the LORD your God, you will provoke him to anger. ²⁶ Heaven and earth will testify against what has occurred today: you’ll surely and swiftly be destroyed from the land that you are about to possess by crossing the Jordan River. You won’t live long in it, because you’ll certainly be exterminated. ²⁷ Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among the nations, and you’ll be fewer in number in the nations where the LORD your God will drive you.

⁶⁴ Scattering among the Nations“He’ll scatter you among the peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you’ll serve other gods made of wood and stones, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.

²⁶ “I said, ‘I will scatter them, erasing their memory from the human race, ²⁷ if it weren’t for dreading the taunting of their enemies— otherwise, their adversary might misinterpret and say, “Our power is great. It isn’t the LORD who made all of this happen.”’”
²⁸ Moses Warns IsraelThey are a nation devoid of purpose and without insight.

⁶ But if you or your descendants abandon me, and do not keep my commandments and statutes that I have given to you, and if you go away, serve other gods, and worship them, ⁷ then I will eliminate Israel from the land that I gave them and from the Temple that I’ve consecrated for my name. I will throw them out of my sight, and Israel will become the butt of jokes and a means of ridicule among people worldwide!

⁴⁹ Zayin
Remembering What God Has SaidRemember what you said to your servant, by which you caused me to hope.

⁷² He has shown mercy to our ancestors and remembered his holy covenant,

³⁹ The remnants among you will waste away in the land of your enemies due to their iniquity. Indeed, they’ll also waste away on account of the iniquities of their ancestors with them.”
⁴⁰ Return from Captivity“Nevertheless, when they confess their iniquity, the iniquity of their ancestors, and their unfaithfulness by which they acted unfaithfully against me by living life contrary to me— ⁴¹ causing me to oppose them and take them to the land of their enemies so that the uncircumcised foreskin of their hearts can be humbled and so that they accept the punishment of their iniquity— ⁴² then I’ll remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham. I’ll also remember the land.

²⁹ If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul. ³⁰ In your distress, when all these things happen to you in days to come and you return to the LORD your God, then you will hear his voice. ³¹ For God is compassionate. The LORD your God won’t fail you. He won’t destroy you or forget the covenant that he confirmed with your ancestors.”

⁵ Instead, you must seek to enter only the place that the LORD your God will choose among your tribes. There he will establish his name and live.

²¹ “If the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish his name is distant from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and your flock what the LORD has provided for you, as he instructed you. You may consume them in your cities as much as you please.

² and when you—you and your descendants, that is—will have returned to him and obeyed all the commands that I’m giving you today with all your heart and soul, ³ then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and will show compassion to you. He will gather you from among the peoples where he had scattered you. ⁴ Even if the LORD had banished you to the ends of the heavens, the LORD your God will gather you from there ⁵ and he’ll bring you to the land that your ancestors inherited. You’ll possess it, you’ll prosper, and you’ll greatly multiply more than your ancestors did.

³ The LORD told him: “I’ve heard your prayer and your request that you made to me. I have consecrated this Temple that you have built by placing my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there continuously.

³⁵ Call out, “Save us, God, you who delivers us! Gather us and rescue us from the nations! We will thank your holy name and rejoice as we praise you!

¹² And may the God who causes his Name to rest there destroy any king or people who might attempt to destroy this Temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out quickly.

⁴⁷ Deliver us, LORD our God, gather us from among the nations so we may praise your holy name and rejoice in praising you.

² The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; he gathers together the outcasts of Israel.

¹² He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth.

⁸ A Rebuke to Israel’s GuardiansThis is what the Lord GOD says, the one who gathers the outcasts of Israel: “I’ll gather still others to them besides those already gathered.

¹⁴ “Return, unfaithful people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I’ll take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I’ll bring you to Zion.

¹⁵ After I’ve uprooted them, I’ll again have compassion on them. I’ll return each one of them to his inheritance, and each one to his own land.

¹¹ For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for well-being, and not for calamity, in order to give you a future and a hope. ¹² When you call out to me and come and pray to me, I’ll hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I’ll be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I’ll restore your security and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I’ve driven you,’ declares the LORD. ‘I’ll bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.’

¹⁰ Nations, listen to this message from the LORD, and declare it in the distant coastlands. Say, “The one who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

³⁷ I’m about to gather my people from all the lands where I’ve driven them in my anger, wrath, and great indignation. I’ll bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.

¹⁹ I’ll bring Israel back to his pasture. He will graze on Carmel, on Bashan, on Mt. Ephraim, and on Gilead—his hunger will be satisfied. ²⁰ In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘the iniquity of Israel will be searched for, but there will be none; and the sin of Judah, but none will be found, because I’ll pardon those I leave as a remnant.’”

²⁴ I’m going to remove you from the nations, gather you from all of the territories, and bring you all back to your own land.

³¹ He’ll send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they’ll gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.”

¹ God Promises to Deliver IsraelThe LORD told Moses, “Now you’re about to see what I’ll do to Pharaoh. Indeed, he’ll send them out under compulsion and he’ll drive them out of his land violently.”

⁹ It is to be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead, so that you may speak about the instruction of the LORD; for the LORD brought you out of Egypt with a strong show of force.

¹³ “You have led with your gracious love this people whom you redeemed. You have guided them with your strength to your holy dwelling.

¹¹ But Moses implored the LORD his God: “LORD, why are you angry with your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a show of force?

²⁹ But they are your people and inheritance, whom you brought out by your mighty strength and awesome power.’”

¹⁵ Don’t ever forget that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, yet the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore, I’m giving you these commands today.

² Remember your community, whom you purchased long ago, the tribe whom you redeemed for your possession. Remember Mount Zion, where you live.

¹² with a strong hand and an active arm, for his gracious love is everlasting.

¹⁶ But you are our Father, even Abraham does not know us and Israel has not acknowledged us; you are he, O LORD, our Father, from long ago, ‘Our Redeemer’ is your name. ¹⁷ Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage. ¹⁸ Your holy people took possession for a little while, but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary. ¹⁹ For a long time we have been those you do not rule, those who are not called by your name.

⁹ Don’t be angry beyond measure, LORD, and don’t remember our iniquity for a season. Please look now, we are all your people.

¹⁵ ‘And now, Lord our God, who brought your people from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made a name for yourself that remains to this day—we’ve sinned. We’ve acted wickedly. ¹⁶ Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, please turn your anger and wrath away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become an embarrassment to all of those around us. ¹⁷ ‘So now, O God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his requests, and look with favor on your desolate sanctuary, for the sake of the Lord. ¹⁸ Turn your ear and listen, O God. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and at the city that is called by your name. We’re not presenting our requests before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great compassion. ¹⁹ ‘Lord, listen!‘Lord, forgive!‘Lord, take note and take action!‘For your own sake, don’t delay, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.’”
²⁰ Gabriel’s Answer: The Seventy Weeks“While I was still speaking in prayer, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and placing my request in the presence of the LORD my God on behalf of the holy mountain of God— ²¹ while I was still speaking, Gabriel the man of God whom I had seen in the previous vision, appeared to me about the time of the evening offering. ²² He gave instructions, and this is what he spoke to me: ‘Daniel, I’ve now come to give you insight and understanding. ²³ Because you’re highly regarded, the answer was issued when you began your prayer, and I’ve come to tell you. Pay attention to my message and you’ll understand the vision. ²⁴ Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city: to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for lawlessness, to establish everlasting righteousness, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ So be informed and discern that seven weeks and 62 weeks will elapse from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed Commander. The plaza and moat will be rebuilt, though in troubled times. ²⁶ Then after the 62 weeks, the anointed one will be cut down (but not for himself). Then the people of the Coming Commander will destroy both the city and the Sanctuary. Its ending will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war, with desolations having been decreed. ²⁷ He will make a binding covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he will suspend both the sacrifice and grain offerings. Destructive people will cause desolation on the pinnacle until it is complete and what has been decreed is poured out on the desolator.’”

¹¹ Deliver me from my brother Esau’s control, because I’m terrified of him, and I’m afraid that he’s coming to attack me, the mothers, and their children.

²⁸ “Your name won’t be Jacob anymore,” the man replied, “but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you’ve emerged victorious.”

² Pharaoh was so angry with his two officers—his senior security advisor and his head chef—

⁹ The Security Advisor’s DreamSo the senior security advisor related his dream to Joseph. “In my dream,” he said, “all of a sudden there was a vine in front of me! ¹⁰ On the vine were three branches that budded. Blossoms shot out, and clusters grew up that produced ripe grapes. ¹¹ Then, with Pharaoh’s cup in my hand, I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, then handed the cup directly to Pharaoh.”
¹² Then Joseph told him, “This is what your dream means: The three branches are three days. ¹³ Within three days, Pharaoh will encourage you and return you to your responsibilities. You’ll attend to Pharaoh’s personal wine cup, just as you did when you were his senior security advisor.

²¹ that is, he restored his senior security advisor to his former responsibilities, including attending to Pharaoh’s personal wine cup,

²³ Despite all of this, the senior security advisor not only didn’t remember Joseph, he deliberately forgot him.

⁹ Then Pharaoh’s senior security advisor spoke up. “Maybe I should make a confession.

¹⁴ and may God Almighty cause the man to show compassion toward you. May he send all of you back, including your other brother and Benjamin. Now as for me, if I lose my children, I lose them.”

¹ An Edict to Rebuild the Temple
During the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the message from the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD prompted Cyrus, king of Persia, to make this proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, which was also released in written form:

²⁷ Ezra’s Response to the LetterBlessed be the LORD God of our ancestors, who placed this decree into the king’s heart to beautify the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem ²⁸ and who showed gracious love to me before the king, before his advisors, and before all of the king’s mighty officials.
And I was strengthened because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me. So I gathered together the leaders of Israel to go with me.

⁶ please turn your attention to observe carefully and listen to the prayer of your servant today that I am presenting to you day and night on behalf of your servants, the Israelis.
“I confess the sins that we Israelis have committed against you. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.

⁸ along with a letter to Asaph, the royal Commissioner of Forests, so that he will supply me with timber to craft beams for the gatehouses of the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house in which I will be living.”
The king granted this for me, according to the good hand of my God.

⁶ Hear my prayer, LORD; attend to my prayer of supplication.

²⁹ “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD;

¹ Thoughts on the Sovereignty of God A king’s heart is a water stream that the LORD controls; he directs it wherever he pleases.

⁸ Yes, LORD, in the path of your judgments we wait; your name and your Law are the soul’s desire. ⁹ My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me searches for you. For when your judgments come upon the earth, the world’s inhabitants learn righteousness.

¹⁸ Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.