The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Esdras 07
1 Then * Sisinnes the governor
of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, and
Sathrabuzanes, with their companions,
following the commandments of King Darius,
2 very carefully supervised the holy
work, assisting the elders of the Jews and
rulers of the temple.
3 So the holy work prospered, while Aggaeus
and Zacharias the prophets prophesied.
4 They finished these things by the commandment
of the Lord, the God of Israel,
and with the consent of Cyrus, Darius, and
Artaxerxes, kings of the Persians.
5 So the holy house was finished by the
twenty-third day of the month Adar, in the
sixth year of King Darius.
6 The children of Israel, the priests, the
Levites, and the others who returned from
captivity who joined them did what was
written in the book of Moses.
7 For the dedication of the Lord’s temple,
they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred
rams, four hundred lambs,
8 and twelve male goats for the sin of
all Israel, according to the number of the
twelve princes of the tribes of Israel.
9 The priests and the Levites stood arrayed
in their vestments, according to their kindred,
for the services of the Lord, the God of
Israel, according to the book of Moses.
The gatekeepers were at every gate.
10 The children of Israel who came out of
captivity held the Passover the fourteenth
day of the first month, when the priests
and the Levites were sanctified together,
11 with all those who returned from captivity;
for they were sanctified. For the
Levites were all sanctified together,
12 and they offered the Passover for all
who returned from captivity, for their
kindred the priests, and for themselves.
13 The children of Israel who came out of
the captivity ate, even all those who had
separated themselves from the abominations
of the heathenofthe land, and sought the Lord.
14 They kept the feast of unleavened
bread seven days, rejoicing before the
Lord,
15 because he had turned the counsel
of the king of Assyria toward them, to
strengthen their hands in the works of the
Lord, the God of Israel.