The Daily Audio Bible

3 And the seventh month cometh, and the sons of Israel [are] in the cities, and the people are gathered, as one men, unto Jerusalem.

² And rise doth Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and they build the altar of the God of Israel, to cause to ascend upon it burnt-offerings, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

³ And they establish the altar on its bases, because of the fear upon them of the peoples of the lands, and he causeth burnt-offerings to ascend upon it to Jehovah, burnt-offerings for the morning and for the evening.

⁴ And they make the feast of the booths as it is written, and the burnt-offering of the day daily in number according to the ordinance, the matter of a day in its day;

⁵ and after this a continual burnt-offering, and for new moons, and for all appointed seasons of Jehovah that are sanctified; and for every one who is willingly offering a willing-offering to Jehovah.

⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they have begun to cause burnt-offerings to ascend to Jehovah, and the temple of Jehovah hath not been founded,

⁷ and they give money to hewers and to artificers, and food, and drink, and oil to Zidonians and to Tyrians, to bring in cedar-trees from Lebanon unto the sea of Joppa, according to the permission of Cyrus king of Persia concerning them.

⁸ And in the second year of their coming in unto the house of God, to Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those coming from the captivity to Jerusalem, and they appoint the Levites from a son of twenty years and upward, to overlook the work of the house of Jehovah.

⁹ And Jeshua standeth, [and] his sons, and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, sons of Judah together, to overlook those doing the work in the house of God; the sons of Henadad, [and] their sons and their brethren the Levites.

¹⁰ And those building have founded the temple of Jehovah, and they appoint the priests, clothed, with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah, by means of [the instruments of] David king of Israel.

¹¹ And they respond in praising and in giving thanks to Jehovah, for good, for to the age His kindness [is] over Israel, and all the people have shouted -- a great shout -- in giving praise to Jehovah, because the house of Jehovah hath been founded.

¹² And many of the priests, and the Levites, and the heads of the fathers, the aged men who had seen the first house -- in this house being founded before their eyes -- are weeping with a loud voice, and many with a shout, in joy, lifting up the voice;

¹³ and the people are not discerning the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people are shouting -- a great shout -- and the noise hath been heard unto a distance.

4 And adversaries of Judah and Benjamin hear that the sons of the captivity are building a temple to Jehovah, God of Israel,

² and they draw nigh unto Zerubbabel, and unto heads of the fathers, and say to them, `Let us build with you; for, like you, we seek to your God, and we are not sacrificing since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Asshur, who brought us up hither.'

³ And Zerubbabel saith to them, also Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel, `Not for you, and for us, to build a house to our God; but we ourselves together do build to Jehovah God of Israel, as the king Cyrus, king of Persia, commanded us.'

⁴ And it cometh to pass, the people of the land are making the hands of the people of Judah feeble, and troubling them in building,

⁵ and are hiring against them counsellors to make void their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even till the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶ And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the commencement of his reign, they have written an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem;

⁷ and in the days of Artaxerxes have Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions written unto Artaxerxes king of Persia, and the writing of the letter is written in Aramaean, and interpreted in Aramaean.

⁸ Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe have written a letter concerning Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king, thus:

⁹ Then Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe, and the rest of their companions, Dinaites, and Apharsathchites, Tarpelites, Apharsites, Archevites, Babylonians, Susanchites, (who are Elamites),

¹⁰ and the rest of the nations that the great and honourable Asnapper removed and set in the city of Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, and at such a time:

¹¹ This [is] a copy of a letter that they have sent unto him, unto Artaxerxes the king: `Thy servants, men beyond the river, and at such a time;

¹² Be it known to the king, that the Jews who have come up from thee unto us, have come in to Jerusalem, the rebellious and base city they are building, and the walls they have finished, and the foundations they join.

¹³ `Now, be it known to the king, that if this city be builded, and the walls finished, toll, tribute, and custom they do not give; and at length [to] the kings it doth cause loss.

¹⁴ Now, because that the salt of the palace [is] our salt, and the nakedness of the king we have no patience to see, therefore we have sent and made known to the king;

¹⁵ so that he doth seek in the book of the records of thy fathers, and thou dost find in the book of the records, and dost know, that this city [is] a rebellious city, and causing loss [to] kings and provinces, and makers of sedition [are] in its midst from the days of old, therefore hath this city been wasted.

¹⁶ We are making known to the king that, if this city be builded and the walls finished, by this means a portion beyond the river thou hast none.'

¹⁷ An answer hath the king sent unto Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe, and the rest of their companions who are dwelling in Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, `Peace, and at such a time:

¹⁸ The letter that ye sent unto us, explained, hath been read before me,

¹⁹ and by me a decree hath been made, and they sought, and have found that this city from the days of old against kings is lifting up itself, and rebellion and sedition is made in it,

²⁰ and mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, even rulers over all beyond the river, and toll, tribute, and custom is given to them.

²¹ `Now, make ye a decree to cause these men to cease, and this city is not builded, till by me a decree is made.

²² And beware ye of negligence in doing this; why doth the hurt become great to the loss of the kings?'

²³ Then from the time that a copy of the letter of king Artaxerxes is read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they have gone in haste to Jerusalem, unto the Jews, and caused them to cease by force and strength;

⁶ And wisdom we speak among the perfect, and wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age -- of those becoming useless,

⁷ but we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a secret, that God foreordained before the ages to our glory,

⁸ which no one of the rulers of this age did know, for if they had known, the Lord of the glory they would not have crucified;

⁹ but, according as it hath been written, `What eye did not see, and ear did not hear, and upon the heart of man came not up, what God did prepare for those loving Him --'

¹⁰ but to us did God reveal [them] through His Spirit, for the Spirit all things doth search, even the depths of God,

¹¹ for who of men hath known the things of the man, except the spirit of the man that [is] in him? so also the things of God no one hath known, except the Spirit of God.

¹² And we the spirit of the world did not receive, but the Spirit that [is] of God, that we may know the things conferred by God on us,

¹³ which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit, with spiritual things spiritual things comparing,

¹⁴ and the natural man doth not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for to him they are foolishness, and he is not able to know [them], because spiritually they are discerned;

¹⁵ and he who is spiritual, doth discern indeed all things, and he himself is by no one discerned;

¹⁶ for who did know the mind of the Lord that he shall instruct Him? and we -- we have the mind of Christ.

3 And I, brethren, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly -- as to babes in Christ;

² with milk I fed you, and not with meat, for ye were not yet able, but not even yet are ye now able,

³ for yet ye are fleshly, for where [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not fleshly, and in the manner of men do walk?

⁴ for when one may say, `I, indeed, am of Paul;' and another, `I -- of Apollos;' are ye not fleshly?

28 By David. Unto Thee, O Jehovah, I call, My rock, be not silent to me! Lest Thou be silent to me, And I have been compared With those going down to the pit.

² Hear the voice of my supplications, In my crying unto Thee, In my lifting up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

³ Draw me not with the wicked, And with workers of iniquity, Speaking peace with their neighbours, And evil in their heart.

⁴ Give to them according to their acting, And according to the evil of their doings. According to the work of their hands give to them. Return their deed to them.

⁵ For they attend not to the doing of Jehovah, And unto the work of His hands. He throweth them down, And doth not build them up.

⁶ Blessed [is] Jehovah, For He hath heard the voice of my supplications.

⁷ Jehovah [is] my strength, and my shield, In Him my heart trusted, and I have been helped. And my heart exulteth, And with my song I thank Him.

⁸ Jehovah [is] strength to him, Yea, the strength of the salvation of His anointed [is] He.

⁹ Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance, And feed them, and carry them to the age!

²⁴ From Jehovah [are] the steps of a man, And man -- how understandeth he his way?

²⁵ A snare to a man [is] he hath swallowed a holy thing, And after vows to make inquiry.