The Daily Audio Bible

God’s Protection Sought

²¹ Then I called for ^(A)a fast there at ^(B)the river of Ahava, that we might ^(C)humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a ^[a]direct journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. ²² For I was ashamed to ask from the king for a military force and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “^(D)The hand of our God is upon all those who seek Him, for their good, but ^(E)His strength and His anger are against all those who ^(F)forsake Him.” ²³ So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He ^[b](G)was moved by our entreaty.

²⁴ Then I ^[c]set apart twelve of the leading priests, ^(H)Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers; ²⁵ and I ^(I)weighed out to them ^(J)the silver, the gold, and the utensils, the contribution for the house of our God which the king and ^(K)his counselors and his princes and all Israel present there had offered. ^26 (L)Thus I weighed into their hands ^[d]650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 gold talents, ²⁷ and 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 ^[e]darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold. ²⁸ Then I said to them, “^(M)You are holy to Yahweh, and the ^(N)utensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers. ²⁹ Watch and keep them ^(O)until you weigh them before the officials of the priests, the Levites and the officials of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Yahweh.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites ^(P)accepted the weighed out silver and gold and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹ Then we set out from ^(Q)the river Ahava on ^(R)the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and ^(S)the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way. ^32 (T)Thus we came to Jerusalem and remained there three days.

Silver, Gold, and Utensils Weighed

³³ On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the utensils ^(U)were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of ^(V)Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. ³⁴ Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was written down at that time.

^35 (W)The exiles who had come from the captivity brought burnt offerings near to the God of Israel: ^(X)12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to Yahweh. ³⁶ Then ^(Y)they gave the king’s edicts to ^(Z)the king’s satraps and to the governors in the provinces beyond the ^[f]River, and they supported the people and the house of God.

The Unfaithfulness of the Exiles

9 Now when these things had been completed, the princes approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not ^(AA)separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, ^(AB)according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites. ² For ^(AC)they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that ^(AD)the holy seed has ^(AE)intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the officials have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.” ³ When I heard about this matter, I ^(AF)tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and ^(AG)sat down in consternation. ⁴ Then ^(AH)everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until ^(AI)the evening offering.

Ezra’s Confession

⁵ But at the evening offering I arose from my ^[g]affliction, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and ^(AJ)stretched out my ^[h]hands to Yahweh my God; ⁶ and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have multiplied above our heads and our ^(AK)guilt has become great even to the heavens. ^7 (AL)Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder and to ^[i](AM)open shame, as it is this day. ⁸ But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, ^(AN)to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a ^(AO)peg in His holy place, that our God may ^(AP)enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our slavery. ^9 (AQ)For we are slaves; yet in our slavery our God has not forsaken us, but ^(AR)has extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “So now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, ¹¹ which You have commanded by the hand of Your slaves the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an impure land with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and ^(AS)with their uncleanness. ¹² So now do not ^(AT)give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and ^(AU)never seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and ^(AV)leave it as a possession to your sons forever.’ ¹³ After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and ^(AW)our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us ^(AX)an escaped remnant as this, ^14 (AY)shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples ^[j]who commit these abominations? ^(AZ)Would You not be angry with us ^[k]to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? ¹⁵ O Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^(BA)You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in ^(BB)our guilt, for ^(BC)no one can stand before You because of this.”

Sexual Immorality in the Church

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has ^(A)his father’s wife. ² And ^[a]you ^(B)have become puffed up and ^[b]have not ^(C)mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be ^(D)removed from your midst.

³ For I, on my part, though ^(E)absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present: ^4 (F)in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and ^[c]I with you in spirit, ^(G)with the power of our Lord Jesus, ^5 (H)deliver such a one to ^(I)Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in ^(J)the day of ^[d]the Lord.

^6 (K)Your boasting is not good. ^(L)Do you not know that ^(M)a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ, our ^(N)Passover lamb, also was sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us celebrate the feast, ^(O)not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote you in my letter ^(P)not to associate with sexually immoral people; ¹⁰ I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with ^(Q)idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate ^[e]with any so-called ^(R)brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or greedy, or ^(S)an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging ^(T)outsiders? ^(U)Are you not to judge those who are within the church? ¹³ But those who are outside, God will judge. ^(V)Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

Salvation Belongs to Yahweh