The Daily Audio Bible

²¹ There by the Ahava ·Canal [River], I announced we would all fast and ·deny [humble] ourselves before our God. We would ask God for a safe ·trip [journey] for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions. ²² I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and ·horsemen [cavalry] to protect us from enemies on the ·road [way]. We had said to the king, “The hand of our God ·helps [^Lis on] everyone who ·obeys [seeks] him, but ·he is very angry with [his power and anger are against] all who reject him.” ²³ So we fasted and ·prayed to [petitioned; pleaded with; ^Tsought] our God about our trip, and he ·answered [heard; listened to] our prayers.

²⁴ Then I ·chose [appointed; set apart] twelve of the priests who were leaders, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their ·relatives [colleagues; ^Lbrothers]. ²⁵ I weighed the offering of silver and gold and the ·utensils [articles; vessels] given for the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of our God, and I gave them to the twelve priests I had chosen. The king, ·the people who advised him [his counselors], his ·officers [officials], and all the Israelites there with us had given these things. ²⁶ I weighed out ·and gave them [^Linto their hands] ·about fifty thousand pounds [^L650 talents] of silver, ·about seventy-five hundred pounds [^L100 talents] of silver objects, and ·about seventy-five hundred pounds [^L100 talents] of gold. ²⁷ I gave them twenty gold bowls ·that weighed [or worth] ·about nineteen pounds [^L1,000 darics] and two fine pieces of polished bronze that were as ·valuable [precious] as gold.

²⁸ Then I said to the priests, “You and these utensils ·belong [are set apart/holy] to the Lord. The silver and gold are ·gifts [a freewill/voluntary offering] to the Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers]. ²⁹ ·Guard [Watch] these things carefully. In Jerusalem, weigh them in front of the ·leading [chief] priests, Levites, and the ·leaders [heads] of the family groups of Israel in the ·rooms [chambers; storerooms] of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and Levites accepted the silver, the gold, and the ·utensils [articles; vessels] that had been weighed to take them to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of our God in Jerusalem.

³¹ On the twelfth day of the first month [^CApril 19] we left the Ahava ·Canal [River] ·and started toward [to travel/journey to] Jerusalem. The hand of our God ·helped us [was over us] and ·protected [saved; ^Tdelivered] us from enemies and ·robbers [ambushes] along the way. ³² Finally we arrived in Jerusalem where we ·rested [stayed] three days.

³³ On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold, and the ·utensils [articles; vessels] in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of our God. We handed them to the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, as were the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. ³⁴ We checked everything by number and by weight, and the total weight was ·written down [recorded].

³⁵ Then the ·captives [exiles] who returned from captivity made burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] to the God of Israel. They sacrificed twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six ·male sheep [rams], and seventy-seven lambs. For a ·sin [or purification] offering [Lev. 4:3] there were twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] to the Lord. ³⁶ They ·took [delivered] King Artaxerxes’ ·orders [decrees] to the royal officers and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates [^Cprovinces west of the Euphrates River]. Then these men gave help to the people and the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of God.

Ezra’s Prayer

9 After these things had been ·done [completed], the ·leaders [officials] came to me and said, “Ezra, the Israelites, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the people ·around us [^Lof the land]. Those neighbors ·do [practice] ·evil [detestable; abominable] things, as the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites did. ² ·The Israelite men and their sons [^LThey] have ·married [^Ltaken] these women. They have ·mixed [intermingled] the ·people who belong to God [^Lholy race] with the people ·around them [^Lof the land]. The leaders and ·officers of Israel [officials] have led the rest of the Israelites to do this unfaithful thing.”

³ When I heard this, I angrily tore my ·robe [tunic; clothes] and ·coat [cloak; mantle], pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down ·in shock [devastated; appalled; in horror]. ⁴ Everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the ·captives [exiles] who had returned. I sat there ·in shock [devastated; appalled; in horror] until the evening ·sacrifice [offering].

⁵ At the evening ·sacrifice [offering] I got up from ·where I had shown my shame [my humiliation/self-abasement]. My ·robe [tunic; clothes] and ·coat [cloak; mantle] were torn, and I fell on my knees with my hands ·spread [stretched] out to the Lord my God. ⁶ I prayed,

“My God, I am too ashamed and ·embarrassed [disgraced] to lift up my face to you, my God, because our ·sins [iniquities] are so many. They are higher than our heads. Our guilt even ·reaches up [extends] to the ·sky [heavens]. ⁷ From the days of our ·ancestors [fathers] until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our ·sins [iniquities], we, our kings, and our priests have been ·punished by [^Lgiven into the hands of the kings of the land, to] the sword and ·captivity [exile]. Foreign kings have ·taken away our things [plundered; pillaged] and ·shamed [humiliated] us, even as ·it [the case] is today.

⁸ “But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been ·kind [gracious; merciful] to us. He has let ·some of us [a remnant] ·come back from [escape; or survive] ·captivity [exile] and has ·let us live in safety [^Lgiven us a peg; ^Ca tent peg symbolizing pitching a tent after travel] in his holy place. And so our God ·gives us hope [^Lcauses our eyes to shine; ^Cthat is, revives] and a little relief ·from [in] our ·slavery [bondage]. ⁹ Even though we ·are [were] slaves, our God in his ·unfailing love [loyalty] ·has not left [did not abandon/forsake] us. He caused the kings of Persia to ·be kind to [look kindly on] us and has ·given us new life [revived us]. We can rebuild the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of our God and ·repair [restore] its ruins. And he has given us a wall [^Cof protection] in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “But now, our God, what can we say after you have done all this? We have ·disobeyed [abandoned; forsaken] your commands ¹¹ that you ·gave [commanded] through your servants the prophets. You said, ‘The land you are entering to ·own [possess] is ·ruined [defiled; polluted; unclean]; the people living there have ·spoiled it [defiled it; polluted it; made it unclean] by ·the evil they do [their detestable/abominable practices]. Their evil filled the land with ·uncleanness [corruption; filth; impurity] from one end to the other. ¹² So do not ·let your daughters marry [^Lgive your daughters to] their sons, and do not ·let their daughters marry [^Ltake their daughters for] your sons. Do not wish for their peace or ·success [prosperity; welfare]. Then you will be strong and eat the good things of the land. Then you can leave ·this land [^Lit as an inheritance] to your ·descendants [sons] forever.’

¹³ “What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt. But you, our God, have punished us less than ·we [our sin/iniquities] deserve; you have left a ·few of us alive [remnant such as this]. ¹⁴ ·We should not [^LShould we…?] again break your commands by ·allowing marriages [intermarrying] with these ·wicked [detestable; abominable] people. ·If we did, you would get angry [^LWould not your anger be…?] enough to destroy us, ·and none of us would be left alive [without remnant or survivor]. ¹⁵ Lord, God of Israel, by your ·goodness [righteousness] a ·few of us [remnant] are left alive today. We ·admit that we are guilty [stand/come before you in our guilt] ·and [although] ·none of us should be allowed to [no one can truly] stand before you.”

Wickedness in the Church

5 It is actually being ·said [reported] that there is sexual sin among you. And it is a kind that ·does not happen [or is not tolerated] even among ·people who do not know God [pagans; Gentiles]. A man there ·has [is living in sin with; is sleeping with] his father’s wife [^Cprobably his stepmother; Lev. 18:7–8; 20:11]. ² And you are ·proud [arrogant; puffed up]! ·You should [^LShould you not…?] have been filled with ·sadness [grief; mourning] so that the man who did this should be put out of your group. ³ I am not there with you in person, but I am with you in spirit. And I have already ·judged [condemned] the man who did that sin as if I were really there. ⁴ When you meet together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I meet with you in spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ then hand this man over to Satan. So his ·sinful self will be destroyed [sinful nature will be purged; or body/flesh will be destroyed; or body will be beaten down by sin], and his spirit will be saved on the day of the Lord.

⁶ Your ·bragging [boasting] is not good. You know the saying, “Just a little ·yeast [or leaven; ^Cleaven is a small lump of fermented dough used to make a loaf rise, as yeast is today] makes the whole batch of dough rise [^Cyeast/leaven symbolizes the permeating influence of this man’s sin within the community; Gal. 5:9].” ⁷ ·Take out all [Cleanse; Purge] the old ·yeast [leaven] so that you will be a new batch of dough without ·yeast [leaven], which you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed [^CChrist’s sacrificial death rescued us from spiritual death, just as the blood of the first Passover lambs rescued the children of Israel; Ex. 11—12]. ⁸ So let us celebrate this feast [^Ca new kind of Passover feast], but not with the bread that has the old ·yeast [leaven]—the ·yeast [leaven] of ·sin [evil; malice] and wickedness [^Cunleavened bread was used in the Passover celebration; Ex. 12:15; Deut. 16:3]. Let us celebrate this feast with the bread that has no ·yeast [leaven]—the bread of ·goodness [sincerity] and truth.

⁹ I wrote you in my earlier letter not to associate with those who sin sexually. ¹⁰ But I did not [^Lat all] mean you should not associate with those of this world who sin sexually, or with the greedy, or ·robbers [or swindlers], or those who worship idols. To get away from them you would have to leave this world. ¹¹ I am writing to tell you that you must not associate with those who call themselves ·believers in Christ [a brother or sister] but who sin sexually, or are greedy, or worship idols, or ·abuse others with words [slander], or get drunk, or ·cheat [swindle] people. Do not even eat with people like that.

It is not my business to judge those who are ·not part of the church [^Loutside]. God will judge them. But you must judge the people who are ·part of the church [^Linside]. The Scripture says, “You must ·get rid of [expel; remove] the evil person among you [Deut. 17:7; 19:19; 22:21, 24; 24:7].”

A Prayer of Faith in Troubled Times

For the director of music. A psalm of David.