CS
Ezra · read by Chuck Smith
68 verses, in order. Only the verses Chuck read aloud are shown.
Ezra 1
1
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
2
"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: 'The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
5
So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
7
King Cyrus also brought out the articles belonging to the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the temple of his gods.Read from KJV · The More Sure Word
8
Cyrus king of Persia had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 2
68
When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings to rebuild the house of God on its original site.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
70
So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, along with some of the people, settled in their own towns; and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 3
1
By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
10
When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as David king of Israel had prescribed.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
11
And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: "For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever." Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 4
1
When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
3
But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, "You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us."Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
4
Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
14
Now because we are in the service of the palace and it is not fitting for us to allow the king to be dishonored, we have sent to inform the kingRead from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
17
Then the king sent this reply: To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates: Greetings.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
18
The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.Read from ESV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
20
And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
22
See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the royal interests to suffer?Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
24
Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 5
5
But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
13
In his first year, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
14
He also removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken and carried there from the temple in Jerusalem. King Cyrus gave these articles to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governorRead from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
15
and instructed, 'Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.'Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 6
1
Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
4
with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
7
Leave this work on the house of God alone. Let the governor and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
10
Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
11
I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own house shall be made a pile of rubble for this offense.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
15
And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.Read from ESV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
16
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.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
19
On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover.Read from NKJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
20
All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
21
The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
22
For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 7
6
this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
7
So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
8
Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king.Read from NASB1995 · (Through the Bible) Ezra
9
He had begun the 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 upon him.Read from KJV · Ezra's Return to Jerusalem
10
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
12
Artaxerxes, king of kings. To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
13
I hereby decree that any volunteers among the Israelites in my kingdom, including the priests and Levites, may go up with you to Jerusalem.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
15
Moreover, you are to take with you the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
19
You must deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
20
And if anything else is needed for the house of your God that you may have occasion to supply, you may pay for it from the royal treasury.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
23
Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for His house. For why should wrath fall on the realm of the king and his sons?Read from KJV · Ezra's Return to Jerusalem
25
And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
26
If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a strict judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
27
Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
28
and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 8
21
And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
31
On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
36
They also delivered the king's edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates, who proceeded to assist the people and the house of God.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 9
1
After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, "The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
2
Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!"Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
8
But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve for us a remnant and to give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our bondage, our God has given us new life and light to our eyes.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
9
Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
10
And now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commandmentsRead from NASB1995 · (Through the Bible) Ezra
11
that You gave through Your servants the prophets, saying: 'The land that you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the impurity of its peoples and the abominations with which they have filled it from end to end.Read from NKJV · Israel's Unfaithfulness
13
After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this),Read from NKJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
14
shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor?Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
15
O LORD, God of Israel, You are righteous! For we remain this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand before You."Read from KJV · (Through the Bible) Ezra
Ezra 10
2
Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: "We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.Read from KJV · Israel's Unfaithfulness
3
So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.Read from KJV · Israel's Unfaithfulness
7
And a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem.Read from KJV · Israel's Unfaithfulness
10
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.Read from KJV · Israel's Unfaithfulness
11
Now, therefore, make a confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives."Read from KJV · Israel's Unfaithfulness
14
Let our leaders represent the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at an appointed time, together with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us."Read from KJV · Israel's Unfaithfulness
16
So the exiles did as proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, each of them identified by name, to represent their families. On the first day of the tenth month they launched the investigation,Read from KJV · Israel's Unfaithfulness