GOD in the Old Testament - Ezra - Part 4

Ezra 6:16-18  (continued)

    Then the people of Israel--the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles--celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

 

Ezra 6:21-22  

So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

(see all Ezra 6)

 

Ezra 7:6  

... this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD the God of Israel had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him. 

 

Ezra 7:9  

He had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was on him.  

 

Ezra 7:12-14 

        Artaxerxes, king of kings,

 

    To Ezra the priest, teacher of the Law of the God of heaven:

 

    Greetings,

 

        Now I decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, 

    including priests and Levites, who volunteer to go to 

    Jerusalem with you, may go. You are sent by the king and 

    his seven advisors to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem 

    with regard to the Law of your God, which is in your hand.

(Ezra 7 continues tomorrow) 

    

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post

GOD in the Old Testament - Ezra - Part 3

Ezra 6:3-5

        In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a

    decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:

        Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present 

    sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be

    sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide, with three

    courses of large stones and one of timbers. The 

    costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. Also the 

    gold and silver articles of the house of God, which

    Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem 

    and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their

    places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be

    deposited in the house of God.

 

Ezra 6:7-10  

    Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God.

    Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders

    rebuild this house of God on its site.

        Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for 

    elders of the Jews in the construction of this house

    of God:

        Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal

    treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so

    that the work will not stop. Whatever is needed--young

    bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God

    of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as

    requested by the priests in Jerusalem--must be given

    them daily without fail, so that they may offer sacrifices 

    pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-

    being of the king and his sons.

 

Ezra 6:12  

    May God who has caused his Name to dwell there, 

    overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change

    this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.

        I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with 

    diligence.

 

Ezra 6:14 

So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.

(Ezra 6 continues tomorrow) 

    

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post

GOD in the Old Testament - Ezra - Part 2

Ezra 5:1-2

    Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

 

Ezra 5:5  

But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.

 

Ezra 5:8  

        The king should know that we went to the district

    of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people 

    are rebuilding it with large stones and placing the 

    timbers in the walls. The work is being carried out 

    with diligence and is making rapid progress under 

    their direction.

 

Ezra 5:11-12  

        This is the answer they gave us:

 

        "We are the servants of the God of heaven and 

    earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was

    built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel 

    built and finished. But because our ancestors angered

    the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of 

    Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who 

    destroyed this temple and deported the people to 

    Babylon."

 

Ezra 5:13-15  

        "However, in the first year of Cyrus king of 

    Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this

    house of God. He even removed from the temple of

    Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God,

    which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in 

    Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon. Then 

    king Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, 

    whom he had appointed governor, and he told him,

    'Take these articles and go and deposit them in the 

    temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on 

    its site."

 

Ezra 5:16  

        "So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations

    of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that day to the

    present it has been under construction but is not yet

    finished."

 

Ezra 5:17  

        Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the

    royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact

    issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem.

    Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

(see all Ezra 5) 

    

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post

GOD in the Old Testament - Ezra - Part 1

Ezra 1:2-4

    "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

        " 'The LORD, the God of Heaven, has given me all

    the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me

    to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any

    of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in

    Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of

    Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their

    God be with them. And in any locality where survivors 

    may now be living, the people are to provide them

    with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and

    with freewill offerings for the temple of God in 

    Jerusalem.' " 

 

Ezra 1:5  

    Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites--everyone whose heart God had moved--prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

[see all Ezra 1]

 

Ezra 2:68  

    When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its sight.

[see all Ezra 2]

 

Ezra 3:2  

Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

 

Ezra 3:8-9  

    In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD. Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers--all Levites--joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

[see all Ezra 3]

 

Ezra 4:1-3  

    When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, "Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your 

God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."

    But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, "You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us." 

 

Ezra 4:24  

    Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

[see all Ezra 4]   

    

[brackets are mine]

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post

GOD in the Old Testament - 2 Chronicles - Part 29

2 Chronicles 36:5

    Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God.

 

2 Chronicles 36:11-13  

    Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the LORD. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God's name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the LORD, the God of Israel.

 

2 Chronicles 36:15-19  

    The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.

 

2 Chronicles 36:23  

    "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

    " 'The LORD, the God of heaven,

    has given me all the kingdoms of the

    earth and he has appointed me to 

    build a temple for him at Jerusalem in

    Judah. Any of his people among you

    may go up and may the LORD their

    God be with them.' "

(see all 2 Chronicles 36)          

    

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post

GOD in the Old Testament - 2 Chronicles - Part 28

2 Chronicles 34:23-24  (continued)

    She (Hulduh, the prophet) said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people--all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of king of Judah.' "

 

2 Chronicles 34:26-27  

"Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD.' "

 

2 Chronicles 34:32-33  

    Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

    Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

(see all 2 Chronicles 34)

 

2 Chronicles 35:3  

He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been consecrated to the LORD: "Put the sacred ark into the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel."

 

2 Chronicles 35:8  

    His officials also contributed voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the officials in charge of God's temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle.

 

2 Chronicles 35:21-22  

But Necho (king of Egypt) sent messengers to him, saying, "What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God had told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you."

    Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage  him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God's command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.

(see all 2 Chronicles 35)  

    

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post

GOD in the Old Testament - 2 Chronicles - Part 27

2 Chronicles 33:7

    He (Manasseh) took the image he had made and put it in God's temple, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever."

 

2 Chronicles 33:11-13  

So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

 

2 Chronicles 33:16-17  

Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel. The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

 

2 Chronicles 33:18-19  

      The other events of Manasseh's reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel. His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself--all these are written in the records of the seers.

(see all 2 Chronicles 33)

 

2 Chronicles 34:3  

    In the eighth year of his (Josiah's) reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.

 

2 Chronicles 34:8-9  

    In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaselah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the LORD his God.

    They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the temple of God, which the Levites who were the gatekeepers had collected from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and the entire remnant of Israel and from all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

(2 Chronicles 34 continued tomorrow) 

    

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post