Nehemiah Cross References - LEB

¹ The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.
It happened in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, that I myself was in the citadel in Susa, ² and one of my brothers, Hanani, came with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped the captivity and about Jerusalem. ³ They replied to me, "The survivors in the province who have survived the captivity are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned in the fire." ⁴ When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. ⁵ I said, "O Yahweh God of the heavens, the great and awesome one who keeps the covenant and loyal love for the ones who love him and for those who keep his commands. ⁶ Please, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying before you by day and by night for your servants, the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and confessing the sins of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* that we have sinned against you. I and my father's house have sinned. ⁷ We have certainly offended you and have not kept the commands, regulations, and judgments that you have commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Please, remember the word that you have commanded to your servant Moses, saying, 'If you act unfaithfully I will scatter you all among the nations. ⁹ But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, even though all of your outcasts are at the furthest parts of heaven, I will gather them and bring them to the place which I have chosen to make my name dwell.' ¹⁰ They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to revere in your name. Please, let your servant be successful this day and give him compassion before this man."
I was cupbearer for the king.

⁷ Some of the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* some priests and Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

⁹ Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth day of the month. All the people sat in the public square of the house of God trembling because of this matter and from the rains.

¹ It happened in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I carried the wine and gave it to the king. And I had never been sad before the king.

¹ Upon the sealed documents: Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah and Zedekiah;

² In those days as King Ahasuerus was sitting on the throne of his kingdom, which was in the citadel of Susa,

¹⁵ The couriers went out quickly by order of the king, and the law was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; and the city of Susa was bewildered.*

² And I saw in the vision, _⌊and when I saw_⌋,* I was in Susa, the citadel that was in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and _⌊I myself_⌋* was at the stream of Ulai.*

¹ _⌊And then_⌋,* in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev.

⁸ But now for a brief moment mercy has been shown by Yahweh our God, who left behind for us a remnant, and given us security in his holy place—for our God to brighten our eyes and to give us brief relief in our bondage. ⁹ For we are slaves and in our bondage our God did not forsake us, and he has extended to us loyal love in the presence of the kings of Persia, to give to us deliverance* and to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judea and Jerusalem.

¹⁴ Shall we again break your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who practice these detestable things? Would you not be angry with us until you destroy us with no remnant or remainder?

² I gave command over Jerusalem to my brother Hanani and Hananiah the commander of the citadel. For he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.

⁶ Pray* for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be at ease. ⁷ May peace be within your walls, security within your palaces." ⁸ For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will say, "Peace be within you." ⁹ For the sake of the house* of Yahweh our God, I will seek your good.

⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget.* ⁶ Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if do not I exalt Jerusalem above my highest joy.

¹⁴ And there will not be a survivor or an escapee of the remnant of Judah, those who have come to dwell as an alien there in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Judah where they are _⌊longing_⌋* to return to dwell there, for they will not turn back, _⌊but only_⌋* some survivors.'"

⁹ And your fugitives will remember me among the nations to which they were taken captive, that I was shattered by _⌊their adulterous heart_⌋* which departed from me, and by _⌊their adulterous eyes_⌋* which went after their idols, and they will feel loathing _⌊for themselves_⌋,* for the evil that they did, for all of their detestable things.

¹⁶ And if their survivors will escape, they will be on the mountains, like the doves of the valley, all of them groaning, each because of his guilt.

²⁶ on that day a survivor will come to you _⌊with the news_⌋.* ²⁷ On that day your mouth shall be opened _⌊at the arrival of the fugitive_⌋,* and you shall speak, and you shall not be silent any longer, and you shall be to them as a sign, and they will know that I am Yahweh."

⁷ then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples.

¹⁰ He and all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the imperial guard tore down the wall of Jerusalem all around.

¹ Now these were the people* of the province who came up from the captivity of the exile whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city.

⁸ May it be known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, the house of the great God. It is being built with stone blocks and timber is being put in the walls. This work is being done with diligence and is making progress in their hands.

³ I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city of my ancestors'* burial site* is ruined and her gates are consumed by fire?"

¹³ I went out during the night at the gate of the valley by the Dragon spring and to the Dung Gate. And I examined the walls in Jerusalem and its gates that had been destroyed by the fire.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, "You see the misery that we are in, that Jerusalem is ruined and its gates burned by the fire. Come, build the walls of Jerusalem and we shall no longer be a disgrace."

⁶ These are the people of the province who came up from captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his city.

³⁶ Behold, we are slaves to this day, and the land that you have given to our ancestors* to eat its fruits and enjoy its goodness—behold, we are slaves in it! ³⁷ Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have given over us because of our sins, and they are ruling over our dead bodies and our livestock at their pleasure. We are in great trouble.

³ These are the heads of the province who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah each one lived on his property in their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants* of Solomon's servants.

¹ And it happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Cush*—over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces.*

¹¹ You have given us as sheep for food, and among the nations you have scattered us. ¹² You have sold your people _⌊cheaply_⌋,* and did not profit by their price. ¹³ You have made us a taunt to our neighbors, a derision and a scorn to those around us. ¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.

⁴ We have become a taunt to our neighbors, a derision and a scorn to those around us.

¹ By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. ² On the willows* in her midst, we hung up our lyres. ³ For there our captors asked of us words of a song, and our tormentors* asked of us jubilation, "Sing for us from a song of Zion."

⁵ And now let me tell you what I myself am about to do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge, and it shall become a devastation. I will break down its wall, and it shall become a trampling.

⁹ Women who are at ease, rise up; hear my voice! Carefree daughters, listen to my word! ¹⁰ _⌊In a year_⌋* you will tremble, carefree ones,
for the vintage will come to an end; the harvest will not come. ¹¹ Tremble, you who are at ease; tremble, carefree ones; strip, and strip yourself, and gird yourself on your loins,* ¹² mourning over breasts, over fields of delight, over the fruitful vine, ¹³ over the soil of my people. It goes up in thorns* and briers,* indeed over all of the houses of joy in the jubilant city. ¹⁴ For the palace will be forsaken, the _⌊crowded city_⌋* deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become* a cave forever, the joy of wild asses, a pasture _⌊for_⌋* flocks.

²⁸ And I profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and I gave Jacob to destruction, and Israel to reviling.

¹⁰ _⌊Your holy cities_⌋* have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. ¹¹ _⌊Our holy and beautiful temple_⌋,* where our ancestors* praised you has _⌊been burned_⌋* by fire, and all our precious objects have become ruins.*

¹⁰ Go up through her vineyards and destroy, but you must not make complete destruction. Remove her branches, for they are not to Yahweh.

⁹ And I will make them as a terror, an evil to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, as a taunt and a curse, in all the places where I will drive them.

¹⁸ And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and a horror, and an object of hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them,

⁸ And the Chaldeans burned the palace* of the king and the houses* of the people with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁸ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will pour out on you at your going to Egypt, and you will become a curse, and a horror, and a curse formula, and a disgrace, and you will no longer see this place." '

⁸ provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, to make smoke offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to dwell as aliens, so as to cut off yourselves, and so that you are becoming as a curse, and as a disgrace among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you forgotten the wicked things of your ancestors,* and the wicked things of the kings of Judah, and the wicked things of their wives, and your wicked things, and the wicked things of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They have not shown contrition up to this day, and they have not shown reverence, and they have not walked in my law and in my statutes that I set _⌊before you_⌋* and _⌊before_⌋* your ancestors.'* ¹¹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Look, _⌊I am determined to bring disaster on you_⌋,* even to exterminate all Judah. ¹² And I will take away the remnant of Judah _⌊who are determined_⌋* to come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there, and everyone will perish. They will fall in the land of Egypt by the sword; they will perish by the famine, from the smallest to the greatest. By the sword and by the famine they will die and become as a curse, as a horror, and as a curse, and as a disgrace.

¹⁴ And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard* broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.

⁷ Jerusalem remembers the days of her misery and wanderings, all her treasures that were from the days of long ago. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, there was no one helping her; the enemies saw her, they mocked at her destruction.

⁶¹ You have heard their disgrace, O Yahweh, all their plans against me.

¹ Remember, O Yahweh, what has become of us; take note, and see our disgrace!

¹⁷ Then the messenger answered and said, "Israel has fled before the Philistines. There has been a great defeat among the troops. Also, your two sons have died, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God has been captured." ¹⁸ Just as he mentioned the ark of God, he* fell from his chair backwards against the side of the gate. He broke his neck and died, because the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. ¹⁹ Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news concerning the capture of the ark of God and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she _⌊went into labor_⌋* and gave birth, because her labor pains came upon her. ²⁰ Just before the time of her death, those _⌊attending her_⌋* said, "Do not fear, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer, or _⌊pay any attention_⌋.* ²¹ She called the boy Ichabod,* saying, "The glory has departed from Israel," referring to the capture of the ark of God and concerning her father-in-law and husband. ²² And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God was captured."*

¹¹ And this is the answer they returned to us: 'We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building the house that was built formerly many years ago, which a great king of Israel had built and finished. ¹² But because our ancestors* angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of the Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia.

³ When I heard this I tore my garment and my robe, and I pulled the hair out from my head and beard, and I sat appalled.

¹ While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children from Israel gathered to him. And the people wept bitterly.

⁴ Then the king said to me, "What is your request?" So I prayed to the God of the heavens.

⁹ because the zeal for your house* has consumed me, and the reproaches of those reproaching you have fallen on me. ¹⁰ When I wept in the fasting of my soul, it became reproaches for me.

¹³ You rise up and take pity on Zion, because it is time to favor it, for the appointed time has come. ¹⁴ Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to its dust.

¹ By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

¹⁸ and told them to seek mercy _⌊from the God of heaven_⌋* concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions, along with the remainder of the wise men of Babylon, would not be killed.

³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and pleas for mercy,* in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes.

⁹ And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

¹⁸ I will gather those of you grieving on account of the feast; they were raising against her a reproach.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

⁶ and showing loyal love to thousands of generations* of those loving me and of those keeping my commandments.

⁹ So know that Yahweh your God, he is God, the trustworthy God, maintaining his* covenant and his* loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments to a thousand generations,*

²¹ You must not be in dread from the presence of them, because Yahweh your God, who is in your midst, is a great and awesome God.

²³ and he said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no god like you in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the loyal love for your servants who are walking before you with all their heart.

²¹ And who is like your people Israel, the one nation upon earth whom God went to redeem for himself, to establish for you a reputation* for great and awesome things, to drive out nations from before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt?

¹⁴ And I looked, got up, and said to the nobles, prefects, and the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."

³² "And now our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loyal love, do not belittle in your presence all of the hardship that is found in us, our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors,* and all of our people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

² For Yahweh Most High is awesome,* a great king over all the earth.

⁴ And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land. ⁷ "_⌊Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord_⌋,* and on us is open shame, just as it is this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, _⌊those who are near and those who are far off_⌋* in all the lands to which you have driven them,* because of their infidelity which they displayed against you. ⁸ Yahweh, on us is open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors,* because we have sinned against you. ⁹ _⌊Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God_⌋,* for we have rebelled against him, ¹⁰ and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law _⌊which he placed before us_⌋* by the hand of his servants the prophets. ¹¹ "And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. ¹² And so he has carried out his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us a great calamity which was not done under all of heaven as it was done in Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all of this calamity has come upon us, and _⌊we have not implored_⌋* the face of Yahweh our God so as to turn from our iniquities and to attend closely to your faithfulness.* ¹⁴ So Yahweh has kept watch over the* calamity, and now he has brought it upon us. Indeed, Yahweh our God is righteous concerning all his works* that he has done, but we have not listened to his voice. ¹⁵ "And now, Lord our God, who have brought your people out from the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and you have made for yourself a name until this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶ Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, _⌊your holy mountain_⌋,* because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors* Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors. ¹⁷ "And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine* your face upon your desolate sanctuary _⌊for your sake, O Lord_⌋.* ¹⁸ Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called by your name, for we are not presenting our pleas for mercy _⌊before you_⌋* because of our righteousness, but rather because of your great compassion. ¹⁹ Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay _⌊for your sake_⌋,* my God; because _⌊your city and your people are called by your name_⌋."*

¹³ For when* God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying,
"Surely _⌊I will greatly bless_⌋* you, and _⌊I will greatly multiply_⌋* you." ¹⁵ And so, by* persevering, he obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by what is greater than themselves, and the oath for confirmation is the end of all dispute for them. ¹⁷ In the same way God, because he* wanted to show even more to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his resolve, guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us,

¹¹ "I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word." _⌊Samuel became angry_⌋,* and he cried out to Yahweh all night.

²⁸ You must regard the prayer of your servant and his plea! O Yahweh my God, listen to the pleading and to the prayer that your servant is praying before you this day, ²⁹ so that your eyes will be open to this house night and day, to the place which you said, 'My name will be there,' to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.

⁴⁰ Now, O my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place!

¹⁰ So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. _⌊Is there not also guilt on your part_⌋* against Yahweh your God?

⁶ For our ancestors* acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. _⌊They have turned their backs_⌋* on it.

⁶ and said, "My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God. For our sins have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our ancestors* until this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our sins we ourselves, our kings, and our priests have been handed into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to utter shame, as it is this day.

¹¹ Now make a confession to Yahweh the God of your ancestors* and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign women."

⁵ I made known my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not cover. I said, "I will confess concerning my transgressions to Yahweh," and you took away the guilt of my sin. Selah

¹⁵ The eyes of Yahweh are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry for help.

¹⁷ _⌊Morning, noon and night_⌋* I will lament and groan loudly, and he will hear my voice.

¹ A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the music director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.*
O Yahweh, God of my salvation, I cry out by day and through the night before you.

⁶ We have sinned along with our ancestors.* We have committed iniquity; we have incurred guilt.

² "O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

⁵ And I said, "Woe to me! For I am destroyed!* For I am a man _⌊of unclean lips_⌋,* and I am living among* a people _⌊of unclean lips_⌋,* for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of hosts!"

⁶ And we all have become like the unclean, and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth, And we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities take us away like the wind. ⁷ And there is no one who calls on your name, who pulls himself up to keep hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us,* and melted us into the hand of our iniquity.

³⁹ Why should any living person complain about his sin? ⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways; let us return to Yahweh. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens. ⁴² We ourselves have transgressed and rebelled, you have not forgiven.

⁷ Our fathers have sinned, they are no more; we bear their iniquity.

⁴ And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments,

¹⁷ "And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine* your face upon your desolate sanctuary _⌊for your sake, O Lord_⌋.* ¹⁸ Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called by your name, for we are not presenting our pleas for mercy _⌊before you_⌋* because of our righteousness, but rather because of your great compassion.

²⁰ Now I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh my God, on behalf _⌊of the holy mountain of my God_⌋.*

³⁷ and herself as a widow up to eighty-four years)* who did not depart from the temple with fastings and prayers, serving night and day.

⁷ And will not God surely _⌊see to it that justice is done_⌋* to his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night, and will he delay toward them?

³ among whom also we all formerly lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will* of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children of wrath* by nature, as also the rest of them were.

⁵ But the widow who is one truly, and is left alone, has put her hope in God and continues in her petitions and prayers night and day.

³ _⌊I am thankful_⌋* to God, whom I have served with a clear conscience _⌊as my ancestors did_⌋*, when _⌊I remember you constantly_⌋* in my prayers night and day,

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he will forgive us our* sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

³⁴ These are the commands that Yahweh commanded Moses for the _⌊Israelites_⌋* on _⌊Mount Sinai_⌋.*

¹ "Now, Israel, listen to the rules and to the regulations that I am teaching you to do, in order that you may live and you may go in and you may take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* is giving to you.

⁵ See, I now teach* you rules and regulations just as Yahweh my God has commanded me, to observe them just so in the midst of the land where you are going, to take possession of it.

¹ And then Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, "Hear, Israel, the rules and the regulations that I am speaking in your ears _⌊today_⌋,* and you shall learn them, and _⌊you must observe them diligently_⌋.*

¹ "Now this is the commandment, the rules and the regulations, that Yahweh your God charged to teach to you for you _⌊to observe_⌋* in the land that you are about to cross over into* to take possession of it,

¹⁴ And you shall not turn aside from _⌊any of_⌋* the words that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋* to the right or left by going after other gods to serve them. ¹⁵ "_⌊And then_⌋* if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God _⌊by diligently observing_⌋* all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋,* then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:

³ You shall keep the charge of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his judgments, and his testimonies, as are written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and everywhere you turn,

⁴ But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the law, in the scroll of Moses, where Yahweh commanded, saying, "Fathers shall not be put to death on account of the sons, and the sons shall not be put to death on account of the fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin."

² And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done—only he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. But the people still acted corruptly.

⁶ this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Yahweh the God of Israel gave. The king granted him all his requests, for the hand of Yahweh was upon him.

²⁹ You warned them so that they would return to your law.* Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments but sinned against your judgments that a person must do so that they may live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen. ³⁰ You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands. ³¹ But in your great compassions you did not put an end to them, and you did not abandon them. For you are a gracious and compassionate God. ³² "And now our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loyal love, do not belittle in your presence all of the hardship that is found in us, our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors,* and all of our people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day. ³³ You are righteous in everything that has come on us, for you dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors* did not keep your law* and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them. ³⁵ And in their kingdom and in the greatness you gave to them, and in the wide and fertile land that you gave before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their evil deeds.

⁸ The precepts of Yahweh are right, making the heart rejoice. The command of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes. ⁹ The fear of Yahweh is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether,

⁵ Oh that my ways were steadfast, to keep your statutes! ⁶ Then I would not be ashamed when I look to all your commands. ⁷ I will give you thanks with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous laws. ⁸ I will heed your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.

⁵ we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land.

¹¹ "And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

¹³ Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all of this calamity has come upon us, and _⌊we have not implored_⌋* the face of Yahweh our God so as to turn from our iniquities and to attend closely to your faithfulness.*

⁹ _⌊They deeply corrupted themselves_⌋* as in the days of Gibeah; he will remember their sin, he will punish their sins.

⁷ I have said, 'Surely she will fear me; she will accept discipline. Then her dwelling place will not be cut down, nor all that I have brought upon her.' Surely they rise early; they make all their deeds corrupt.

⁴ "Remember the instruction* of my servant Moses, which I commanded him at Horeb to all Israel, the rules and regulations.

² because his judgments are true and righteous, because he has passed judgment on the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and has avenged the blood of his slaves _⌊shed by_⌋* her hand!"

³³ And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin. ³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of its lying desolate, and you shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths. ³⁵ All the days of its lying desolate it shall rest for the time* that it had not rested during your Sabbaths while you were living on it. ³⁶ As for* the ones who remain among you, I will bring* fearfulness in their hearts in the land of their enemies; and a sound of a windblown leaf shall pursue them, and they shall flee like flight _⌊before_⌋* a sword, and they shall fall, but* there shall not be a pursuer. ³⁷ And they shall stumble over _⌊one another_⌋* as _⌊from before_⌋* a sword, but* there shall not be a pursuer; and _⌊you shall have no resistance_⌋* _⌊before_⌋* your enemies. ³⁸ And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you. ³⁹ And because of their guilt, the ones among you who remain shall decay in the land of their enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their ancestors,* they shall decay with them. ⁴⁰ " 'But* when they confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors* in their infidelity that they displayed against me, and moreover that they went against me in hostility— ⁴¹ I myself* also* went against them in hostility, and I brought them into the land of their enemies—or if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and then they pay for their guilt, ⁴² I will remember* my covenant with Jacob; and I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. ⁴³ And the land shall be deserted by them, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths in its being desolate from them, and they themselves* must pay for their guilt, _⌊simply because_⌋* they rejected my regulations, and their inner self* abhorred my statutes. ⁴⁴ And _⌊in spite of_⌋* this, _⌊when they are_⌋* in the land of their enemies I will not reject them, and I will not abhor them to destroy them, to break my covenant with them, because I am Yahweh their God. ⁴⁵ And I will remember the first covenant for them*—whom I brought out from the land of Egypt _⌊in the sight of_⌋* the nations _⌊to be their God_⌋.* I am Yahweh.'" ⁴⁶ These are the rules and the regulations and the laws that Yahweh gave between himself and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* on _⌊Mount Sinai_⌋* _⌊through_⌋* Moses.

²⁵ "When you have had children and _⌊grandchildren_⌋* and you have grown old in the land and you act corruptly and you make a divine image of the form of anything and you do evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, thus provoking him to anger, ²⁶ I call* to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; _⌊you will not live long on it_⌋,* but you will be completely destroyed. ²⁷ And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left _⌊few in number_⌋* among the nations _⌊to where Yahweh will lead you_⌋.*

⁶⁴ And Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth up to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods that you have not known nor* your ancestors,* gods of wood and stone.

²⁶ I thought, "I will wipe them out; _⌊I will make people forget they ever existed_⌋."* ²⁷ If I had not feared a provocation of the enemy, lest their foes might misunderstand, * lest they should say, * "Our hand is _⌊triumphant_⌋,* and Yahweh did not do all this." ' ²⁸ For _⌊they are a nation void of sense_⌋,* and there is not any understanding in them.

⁶ "If ever you or any of your descendants* turn from following me and do not keep my commandments and my ordinances that I have set before you and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, ⁷ then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples.

⁴⁹ Remember your word to your servant, upon which you have caused me to hope.

⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,

³⁹ And because of their guilt, the ones among you who remain shall decay in the land of their enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their ancestors,* they shall decay with them. ⁴⁰ " 'But* when they confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors* in their infidelity that they displayed against me, and moreover that they went against me in hostility— ⁴¹ I myself* also* went against them in hostility, and I brought them into the land of their enemies—or if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and then they pay for their guilt, ⁴² I will remember* my covenant with Jacob; and I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

²⁹ But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.* ³⁰ _⌊In your distress_⌋* when* all these things have found you in the _⌊latter days_⌋,* then* you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice. ³¹ For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he _⌊will not abandon you_⌋,* and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors* that he swore to them.

⁵ _⌊But only_⌋* to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all of your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go.

²¹ If the place that* Yahweh your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, and you slaughter any of your herd and any of your flock that Yahweh has given to you just as I have commanded you, then you may eat whenever you desire in your _⌊towns_⌋.*

² and you return to Yahweh and you listen to his voice according to all that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋,* both you and your children,* with all your heart and with all your inner self,* ³ and Yahweh your God will restore your fortunes, and he will have compassion upon you, and _⌊he will again gather you together_⌋* from all the peoples where Yahweh your God scattered you there. ⁴ "Even if _⌊you are outcasts_⌋* at the end of the heavens, even from there Yahweh your God shall gather you, and from there _⌊he shall bring you back_⌋.* ⁵ And Yahweh your God will bring you to the land that your ancestors* had taken possession of,* and he will make you successful, and he will make you more numerous than your ancestors.*

³ Yahweh said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house which you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

³⁵ Then say, "Save us, O God of our salvation; gather us and rescue us from the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

¹² May the God who has set his name there overthrow any king or people who sets his hand to alter or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, issue forth a decree. Let it be done with diligence."

⁴⁷ Save us, O Yahweh our God, and gather us from the nations, so that we may give thanks to your holy name and boast in your praise.

² Yahweh is building Jerusalem; he gathers the scattered ones of Israel.

¹² and he will raise a signal for the nations. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four _⌊corners_⌋* of the earth.

⁸ _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, who gathers* the scattered ones of Israel (still I will gather to* him, to his gathered ones).

¹⁴ "Return, apostate* children," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "For _⌊I am your master_⌋,* and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan,* and I will bring you to Zion.

¹⁵ _⌊And then_⌋* after my driving them out, I will once again have compassion on them, and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance, and each one to his land.

¹¹ For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give to you a future and a hope. ¹² Then when you call me, and you come and pray to me, then I will listen to you. ¹³ When you search for me, then you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ And I will let myself be found by you,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will restore your fortunes,* and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.'

¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations, and declare in the coastlands from afar, and say, "The scatterer of Israel will gather him, and he will keep him as a shepherd his flock.

³⁷ Look, I am going to gather them from all the lands to which I driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell _⌊in safety_⌋.*

¹⁹ And I will restore Israel to its pasture, and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan, and on the hills* of Ephraim, and in Gilead its hunger will be satisfied. ²⁰ In those days and at that time," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I left behind.

²⁴ " 'And I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all of the lands, and I will bring you to your land.

³¹ And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven* to the other end of it.

¹ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, because with a strong hand he will release them, and with a strong hand he will drive them out from his land."

⁹ And it will be as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes so that the law of Yahweh will be in your mouth, that with a strong hand Yahweh brought you out from Egypt.

¹³ In your loyal love you led the people whom you redeemed; in your strength you guided them to the abode of your holiness.*

¹¹ And Moses _⌊implored Yahweh_⌋* his God, and he said, "Why, Yahweh, should _⌊your anger blaze_⌋* against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?

²⁹ For they are your people and your inheritance whom you brought with your great power and with your outstretched arm.'

¹⁵ And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you thus _⌊today_⌋.*

² Remember your congregation that you bought long ago, when you redeemed the tribe of your inheritance. Remember _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* where you have dwelt.

¹² With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his loyal love endures forever.

¹⁶ For you are our father, although Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh are our father, Our Redeemer from of old is your name. ¹⁷ Why do you make us wander, Yahweh? You harden our heart from your ways _⌊so that we do not fear_⌋* you. Turn back for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance. ¹⁸ _⌊Your holy people_⌋* took possession for a little while; our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary. ¹⁹ We have been since antiquity; you did not rule them; _⌊they were not called by your name_⌋.*

⁹ You must not be exceedingly angry, Yahweh, and you must not remember iniquity forever!
Look! Behold, now! We all are your people!

¹⁵ "And now, Lord our God, who have brought your people out from the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and you have made for yourself a name until this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶ Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, _⌊your holy mountain_⌋,* because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors* Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors. ¹⁷ "And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine* your face upon your desolate sanctuary _⌊for your sake, O Lord_⌋.* ¹⁸ Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called by your name, for we are not presenting our pleas for mercy _⌊before you_⌋* because of our righteousness, but rather because of your great compassion. ¹⁹ Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay _⌊for your sake_⌋,* my God; because _⌊your city and your people are called by your name_⌋."* ²⁰ Now I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh my God, on behalf _⌊of the holy mountain of my God_⌋.* ²¹ And I was still speaking in prayer, and the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision _⌊previously_⌋,* _⌊in my weariness touched me_⌋* at the time of the evening offering. ²² And he instructed me and he spoke with me and he said, "Daniel I have now come out* to teach you understanding. ²³ At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and now I have come to declare* it, for you are highly esteemed, and so consider the word and understand the vision. ²⁴ "Seventy weeks is decreed for your people and _⌊for your holy city_⌋,* to put an end to the transgression and to seal up sin* and to make atonement for guilt and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint _⌊the most holy place_⌋.* ²⁵ And you must know and you must understand* that from the time of the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed* one—a leader—will be _⌊seven weeks and sixty-two weeks_⌋;* it will be restored and will be built with streets and a moat, but _⌊in a time of oppression_⌋.* ²⁶ "And after the sixty and two weeks an anointed one* shall be cut off, and _⌊he shall have nothing_⌋,* and the people of the coming leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary,* and its end will be with the flood and on to the end there shall be war; these desolations are determined. ²⁷ And he will make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering _⌊and in its place_⌋* a desolating abomination comes even until _⌊the determined complete destruction_⌋* is poured out on the desolator."

¹¹ Please rescue me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and attack mother and children alike.

²⁸ And he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,* for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."

² And Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, with the chief cupbearer and chief baker.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and he said to him, "In my dream, now behold, there was a vine before me, ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. And as it budded, its blossoms came up, and its clusters of grapes grew ripe. ¹¹ And the cup of Pharaoh was in my hand, and I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup of Pharaoh. Then I placed the cup into the hand of Pharaoh." ¹² Then Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation: The three branches, they are three days. ¹³ In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and will restore you to your office. And you shall put the cup of Pharaoh into his hand as was formerly the custom, when you were his cupbearer.

²¹ And he restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing position. And he placed the cup in the hand of Pharaoh.

²³ But the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

⁹ Then the chief of the cupbearers spoke with Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my sins today.

¹⁴ And may El-Shaddai* grant you compassion before the man that he may release your other brother to you and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved."

¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to accomplish the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia and he sent a message to all of his kingdom and also put the message in writing:

²⁷ Blessed be Yahweh the God of our ancestors,* who put this in the heart of the king to glorify the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem ²⁸ and who extended to me loyal love before the king and his counselors, and before all of the mighty officials of the king. I took courage, for the hand of Yahweh my God was upon me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

⁶ Please, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying before you by day and by night for your servants, the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and confessing the sins of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* that we have sinned against you. I and my father's house have sinned.

⁸ Also, a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's land reserve, that he should give me timber for laying the beams for the gates of the citadel of the house and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I will enter." And the king gave permission to me, according to the good hand of God on me.

⁶ Heed, O Yahweh, my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplications.

²⁹ Since they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Yahweh,

¹ Streams of water are the heart* of a king in the hand of Yahweh; _⌊wherever_⌋* he will desire, he will turn.

⁸ Surely we wait for you in the path of your judgments, Yahweh, for your name and renown are the desire of the soul. ⁹ I desire you with all my soul in the night; also I seek you with my spirit within me, for when your judgments are _⌊upon_⌋* the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁸ Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience, and want to conduct ourselves commendably in every way.