From the Greek Septuagint text as was used by First Century Christians
Written by the Jewish Scribe and Priest Ezra about 455-B.C.E., and covering the period from the beginning of the Temple reconstruction
at the start of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia (about 559-B.C.E), to the reestablishment and cleansing of the Priesthood in the time of Ezra.

Chapter 1

¹ In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Word of Jehovah came through the mouth of [the Prophet] JeremiAh to awaken the spirit of King Cyrus. ² Then he sent a written proclamation throughout his kingdom that said, 'This is what Cyrus the king of Persia has decreed: All the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by Jehovah the God of heaven, and He told me to build a Temple to Him in JeruSalem of Judea. ³ So, who of you are His people? His God Jehovah is now with him; therefore, let him [return to JeruSalem] and build a Temple for the God of IsraEl, because He is The God in JeruSalem. ⁴ So, all the Judeans should leave the places where they've been staying and take up a collection of silver and gold, as well as things from among their belongings and their cattle, [to rebuild] the Temple of God in JeruSalem.'

⁵ Then the family heads of Judah and BenJamin, and the Priests and Levites – everyone whose spirit God had awakened to go and build a Temple of Jehovah in JeruSalem – got up and left. ⁶ And all those who were [living among] them filled their hands with silver, gold, belongings, cattle, and gifts, in addition to their own offerings. ⁷ Then King Cyrus brought out the things from the Temple of Jehovah that NebuChadNezzar had taken from JeruSalem and put into the temple of his god, ⁸ and he sent them by the hand of his Royal Treasurer MithraDates, who counted everything and gave it to SasaBasar, the ruler of Judah. ⁹ And this is what was sent:

·      Thirty wine-chillers of gold

·      Thirty wine-chillers of silver

·      Twenty-nine sacrificial knives

·      Thirty gold washbasins

·      ¹⁰ Four-hundred-and-ten double-silver items

·      A thousand other items

·      ¹¹ And a total of five thousand, four hundred smaller things of silver and gold.

SasaBasar took it all from Babylon to JeruSalem for the resettlement.

Chapter 2

¹ These are the ones who returned from Babylon to resettle Judah and JeruSalem, [whose families] had been relocated by NebuChadNezzar (the king of Babylon)… each returned to his own city. ² Those who returned with ZerubBabel were JoShua, NehemiAh, SeraiAh, ReElaiAh, MardecAi, BilShan, MizPar, BigVai, Rehum, and BaAna.

In numbers, the people of IsraEl included ³ two thousand, one hundred-and-seventy-two from Parosh; ⁴ three-hundred-and-seventy-two from ShephatiAh; ⁵ seven-hundred-and-seventy-five from Arah; ⁶ two thousand, eight-hundred-and-twelve from Pahath Moab (descendants of JoShua and JoAb); ⁷ a thousand, two-hundred-and-fifty-four from Elam; ⁸ nine-hundred-and-forty-five from ZatTu; ⁹ seven-hundred-and-sixty from ZacCai; ¹⁰ six-hundred-and-forty-two from Bani; ¹¹ six-hundred-and-twenty-three from BaeAi; ¹² a thousand, two hundred-and-twenty from AzGad; ¹³ six-hundred-and-sixty-six from AdoniKam; ¹⁴ two thousand, fifty-six from BigVai; ¹⁵ four-hundred-and-fifty-four from Adin; ¹⁶ ninety-eight from Ater (descendants of HezekiAh); ¹⁷ three-hundred-and-twenty-three from BezAi; ¹⁸ a-hundred-and-twelve from JoRah; ¹⁹ two-hundred-and-twenty-three from Hashum; ²⁰ ninety-five from GibBar; ²¹ a hundred-and-twenty-three from BethLehem; ²² fifty-six from NetoPhah; ²³ a hundred-and-twenty-eight from AnathOth; ²⁴ forty-three from AzMaveth; ²⁵ seven-hundred-and-forty-three from KiriAth Jairim, ChaPhira, and BeerOth; ²⁶ six-hundred-and-twenty-one from Rama and GabaA; ²⁷ a hundred-and-twenty-two men of MichMash; ²⁸ two-hundred-and-twenty-three men of BethEl; ²⁹ fifty-two from Nebo; ³⁰ a hundred-and-fifty-six from MagBish; ³¹ a thousand, two-hundred-and-fifty-four from Elam; ³² three-hundred-and-twenty from Harim; ³³ seven-hundred-and-twenty-five from Lod, Hadid, and Ono; ³⁴ three hundred-and-forty-five from JeriCho; ³⁵ three thousand, six-hundred-and-thirty from SenaAh; ³⁶ nine-hundred-and-seventy-three priests of the house of JoShua from JedaiAh; ³⁷ a thousand, fifty-two from ImMer; ³⁸ a thousand, two-hundred-and-forty-seven from PashUr; ³⁹ a thousand and seven from Harim.

⁴⁰ There were seventy-four Levites who were descendants of JoShua and KadmiEl from HoDaviAh; ⁴¹ a hundred-and-twenty-eight singers from the family of Asaph; ⁴² a-hundred-and-thirty-nine gatekeepers from of ShalLum, Ater, TelMon, AkKub, HatiTa, and ShobAi; ⁴³ then there were the Nethinim from SiHa, HaSupha, TabaOth, ⁴⁴ Keros, SiaHa, Padon, ⁴⁵ LebanAh, HagAbah, AkKub, ⁴⁶ HagAb, ShalmAi, Hanan, ⁴⁷ GidDel, Gahar, ReaJah, ⁴⁸ Rezin, and twelve from NekoDa and GazZam; ⁴⁹ and from UzZa, PaseAh, BesAi, ⁵⁰ AsNah, Mehunim, Nephousim, ⁵¹ BakBuk, HakUpha, HarHur, ⁵² BazLuth, MehiDa, HarSha, ⁵³ Barkos, Sisera, ThamAh, ⁵⁴ NeziAh, HatiPha; ⁵⁵ and descendants of the servants of Solomon from SotAi. From SopherEth there were: Peruda ⁵⁶ of JaAlah, DarKon, GidDel, ⁵⁷ ShephatiAh, HatTil, PocherEth, Zebaim, and Ami.

⁵⁸ Altogether, there were three-hundred-and-ninety-two Nethinim and descendants of the servants of Solomon.

⁵⁹ Those who came from TelMelah, TelHarsa, Cherub, AdDan, and ImMer were unable to report on their houses and children… that is, if they even are IsraElites.

⁶⁰ There were six-hundred-and-fifty-two from TobiAh and NekoDa.

⁶¹ And the information on the priests from HabaiAh, Koz, and BarZillAi who married women from BarZillAi (in Gilead) [used to] be in the records there, ⁶² but when they went looking for their genealogical records, they couldn't find them, so they were suspended from the priesthood. ⁶³ For, AtherSastha said to them: 'You may not eat from the Holy of Holies until a Priest returns [with] the Lights and Perfections (Urim and Thumim?) to [tell us what to do].

⁶⁴ Altogether, there were forty-two thousand, three-hundred-and-sixty who returned, ⁶⁵ plus seven thousand, three-hundred-and-thirty-seven male and female servants, and two hundred male and female singers. ⁶⁶ They brought back seven-hundred-and-thirty-six horses, two hundred-and-forty-five mules, ⁶⁷ four-hundred-and-thirty-five camels, and six thousand, seven-hundred-and-twenty burros.

⁶⁸ The family heads who went to the Temple of Jehovah in JeruSalem that were willing and able to contribute to its reconstruction, contributed ⁶⁹ sixty-one thousand gold coins and five thousand silver coins, plus a hundred outfits for the Priests, which they gave to the treasury. ⁷⁰ However, the Priests, Levites, [dedicated] people, singers, gatekeepers, and Nethinim went and lived in their own cities, as did all IsraEl.

Chapter 3

¹ Well, it was the seventh month, and the sons of IsraEl were in their cities; but then, the people were brought together into JeruSalem as one man. ² And JoShua (the son of JoZadak), his brothers the Priests, and ZerubBabel (the son of ShealtiEl) and his brothers, got up and built an Altar to the God of IsraEl, on which to offer whole burnt offerings (as it was written in the Law of Moses, the man of God). ³ They prepared the Altar in a [special] place, because they were afraid of the people in the land, and they brought the whole burnt offerings to Jehovah from morning until evening.

⁴ Thereafter, they observed the Holiday of Temporary Dwellings, following the written instructions, and offered whole burnt offerings each day for the number of days that they understood were required. ⁵ And thereafter, they continued the sacrifice of the whole burnt offerings during the New Moons and on all the holy celebrations of Jehovah… along with the free-will offerings that were brought to the Lord.

⁶ It was on the first day of the seventh month that they started sacrificing the whole burnt offerings to Jehovah, but the foundation for His Temple hadn't been laid yet. ⁷ So they paid the quarry workers and the laborers, and offered food, drink, and olive oil to the Sidonians and the people of Tyre, to get them to transport cedar wood from Lebanon across the sea to JopPa, as it had been decreed by Cyrus, the king of Persia.

⁸ Then, when they came to the Temple of Jehovah God in JeruSalem in the second year and the second month, ZerubBabel (the son of ShealtiEl), JoShua (the son of JoZadek), the rest of their brothers among the Priests and Levites, as well as everyone else who had left their captivity and come to JeruSalem, assigned the Levites who were twenty-years and older to ensure the success of those who were doing the work on the Temple of Jehovah. ⁹ So JoShua and his sons, and his brother KadmiEl and his sons (who were all Judeans) were put in charge of those who were doing the work at the Temple of God, along with the sons of HenAdad and their brothers the Levites.

¹⁰ And when they laid the foundation to the Temple of Jehovah, the Priests put on their robes and got their trumpets, and the Levites (the descendants of Asaph) picked up their cymbals to praise Jehovah with [the songs] of David, the king of IsraEl. ¹¹ Then they praised and acknowledged before Jehovah that He is good, and that His mercy would be upon IsraEl through the ages. And all the people were shouting and praising Jehovah together, as the groundwork for the Temple of Jehovah was being prepared. ¹² And while many of the Priests, Levites, family heads, and elders stood watching the groundwork for the Temple being prepared before their eyes, they wept at the great sound, and many started shouting happily, making the sounds even louder. ¹³ And soon it became difficult to distinguish the difference between the sounds of people shouting in joy and the sounds of the weeping. For the sounds of the cheering and weeping could be heard for [miles].

Chapter 4

¹ Well, when the people who opposed Judah and BenJamin heard that those who had returned were building a Temple to Jehovah the God of IsraEl, ² they approached ZerubBabel and the family heads and said to them, 'You should allow us to build the Temple with you, so we can also ask [for things] from your God; for we've been offering sacrifices to Him since the time of EsarHaddon the king of Assyria, who brought us here.'

³ But ZerubBabel, JoShua, and the rest of the family heads of IsraEl replied, 'It isn't up to us to decide if you can help us build a Temple to Jehovah the God of IsraEl, because we were told to do it by Cyrus, the king of Persia.'

⁴ Well thereafter, the people of the land did whatever they could to weaken the people of Judah and to impede the construction project. ⁵ And they hired representatives against them to go to Cyrus (the king of Persia) and to the kingdom of Darius (the king of the [Medes]) to get the proclamation revoked. ⁶ Then, at the beginning of the reign of AhasuErus (Xerxes), they wrote a letter against the people who were living in Judah and JeruSalem. ⁷ And it was in the days of [his son] ArthaSastha (ArtaXerxes) that MithraDates, TabeEl, and his fellow servants wrote to ArthaSastha (the king of Persia). It was written in Syrian, so his tax collector had to translate it.

⁸ Then Lord Rehum wrote a letter against JeruSalem (through his scribe ShimShai) to King ArthaSastha, saying, ⁹ 'This is what our lord, Judge Rehum, the scribe ShimShai, the rest of our fellow servants (the Dinaites, ApharSathchites, Tarpelites, Apharsites, Archevites, Babylonians, Sousanchites, Dehavites, Elamites) ¹⁰ and all the other nations who were resettled in the cities of Samaria and across the river by the great and esteemed Asnapper (AshurBanipal) have to say…' ¹¹ Then they wrote this to King ArthaSastha: 'From your servants on the other side of the river; ¹² We wish to inform the king that the Judeans you sent among us have come to JeruSalem (an apostate and wicked city), where they've raised a foundation and they're getting ready to build the walls. ¹³ We want the king to know that if the city should be rebuilt and its walls re-erected, they will stop paying their tolls and taxes, and treat the king wickedly! ¹⁴ Now, we don't want to see such indecent treatment of the king, so we've sent [this letter] to let the king know what is happening.

¹⁵ 'You should examine the records of your ancestors; for then you will know that [JeruSalem] is an apostate city that treats kings badly, and that they've been escaping and rebelling through the ages… and that's why the city was destroyed. ¹⁶ So, we want the king to know that the city should not be rebuilt and its walls [should not be] made ready.

¹⁷ 'From us on the other side of the river, to the king. From Lord Rehum, ShimShai the scribe, and the rest of their fellow servants who live in Samaria and across the river. We wish you Peace.'

¹⁸ [Then the king replied], 'I just called the tax collector before me that you sent to us, ¹⁹ and I've issued a decree. After examining [the records], this is what I found: That city has for a fact rebelled against the kings through the ages, and all sorts of uprisings and defections have happened there, ²⁰ for they used to have strong kings who ruled from JeruSalem all the way to the other side of the river, [and they] used to collect their own taxes and tolls.

²¹ 'So now, pass a decree that those men should stop their work, so that city will never be rebuilt again! ²² I appreciate the way you followed the decree, and you weren't wrong [to write me], so that the power of the kings won't be lost to evil deeds.'

²³ Then King ArthaSastha's tax collector read [the letter] in the presence of Lord Rehum, the scribe ShimShai, and his fellow servants, and they quickly went to JeruSalem [and throughout] Judah with their army and cavalry, and forced them to stop the work. ²⁴ So, construction on the Temple of God in JeruSalem stopped, and it remained unfinished until the second year of the reign of Darius the king of Persia.

Chapter 5

¹ Then the Prophets HagGai and ZechariAh (the son of IdDo) [each] spoke prophecies about the Jews in Judah and JeruSalem in the Name of the God of IsraEl, ² and ZerubBabel (the son of ShealtiEl) and JoShua (the son of JoZadek) stood up and started building the Temple of God in JeruSalem once again, and the Prophets of God came to help them.

³ Then TatNai (the vassal king on the other side of the river) and ShetharBozNai and their fellow servants came to them and asked, 'By whose decree are you building this Temple; where did you get the money; ⁴ and what are the names of the men who are rebuilding this city?'

⁵ Well, the eyes of God had seen the captivity of Judah, and He didn't make them stop working on the Temple until the decree was carried to Darius by his tax collector. ⁶ Then this letter of explanation was sent to King Darius by TatNai (the vassal king from the other side of the river), ShetharBozNai, and their fellow servants (who were ApharSachaeans that lived on the other side of the river):

⁷ 'To Darius the king;

'May you have peace in everything.

⁸ 'Let it be known to the king that we went into Judea, to the Temple of the great God, and found it being rebuilt with the best of stone, and with timbers being inserted into the walls; and we found the workmanship to be well done and proceeding well under them. ⁹ So we asked the elders there, by whose decree this Temple was being built, who was providing the money for the construction, ¹⁰ and what their names were, so we could send [this information] on to you. ¹¹ And this was their reply.

'We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we're rebuilding the Temple that was built here many years ago by a great king of IsraEl who prepared it for them. ¹² But when our ancestors made the God of heaven angry, He handed them over to NebuChadNezzar the Chaldean king of Babylon; so this Temple was allowed to rest, and the people were resettled in Babylon.

¹³ 'But in the first year of Cyrus (the king [who conquered] the Babylonians), he issued a decree to rebuild this Temple of God, ¹⁴ and to return the items of gold and silver to the Temple of God that NebuChadNezzar had taken from the Temple in JeruSalem and carried to his own temple in Babylon.

¹⁵ 'So, King Cyrus had these things taken from the temple in Babylon, and he gave them to SheshBazzar his royal treasurer, and told him to go and return it all to the Temple of God in JeruSalem, so it could be rebuilt in the place where it once stood. ¹⁶ Then SheshBazzar went to JeruSalem and laid the Temple foundation, which has been under construction since that time, but it isn't finished yet.

¹⁷ 'Now, if the king approves, send someone to the treasury in the king's temple in Babylon to see if King Cyrus issued such a decree to rebuild the Temple of God in JeruSalem. And when the king finds out, may he send a reply to us.'

Chapter 6

¹ Then, after examining the library at the treasury in Babylon, King Darius issued a decree. ² For in the city of AchMetha, in the palace of the Medes, he found a scroll with a record that was written in the first year of King Cyrus, where he rendered a decree concerning the Temple of God in JeruSalem. ³ It said, 'Allow a Temple to be built where they will offer sacrifices! Let them set in place the foundations. [The building] must be a hundred feet high, and a hundred feet wide. ⁴ It should be made with three layers of fortified stones and a layer of fortified lumber. And it is granted that the expense [of this construction] will be paid for by the palace of the king.

⁵ 'Also, the items of gold and silver that were taken from the Temple of God by NebuChadNezzar, should be taken from his temple and returned to the one in JeruSalem… it should be taken from Babylon and transported to the Holy Place in JeruSalem, the Temple of God.'

⁶ So, [the king] told King TatNai, ShetharBozNai, and his fellow servants (the ApharSachites from the other side of the river) to leave that place, in order to allow the work on the Temple of God [to be completed], ⁷ and [not to bother] the elders and those who were directing the work of the Judeans, so they could rebuild [the Temple] where it used to be. ⁸ [He said]: 'It is my decree through the elders of those Judeans, to build the Temple of God using tax money from the [vassal] kings on the other side of the river. The expenses must be carefully calculated and then paid to those men, so the work doesn't stop.

⁹ 'Also, where they are lacking enough male calves, rams, and lambs for their whole burnt offerings to the God of heaven; or of wheat, salt, wine, or olive oil… whatever the Priests in JeruSalem need must be given to them each day. There must be no arguing; whatever they ask for ¹⁰ should be provided, so a pleasant aroma may be offered to the God of heaven, and so that prayers may be offered on behalf of the king and his sons.

¹¹ 'This decree has come from me, and any man who challenges what I've said will have his house demolished and its boards placed upright; then he will be impaled on top of them, and everything in his house will be looted. ¹² May the God who camps and puts His Name there wipe out any people and their kings who raise a hand against, or change, or hide the Temple of God in JeruSalem. For I Darius have rendered this decree after thoughtful consideration… may it be.'

¹³ Then TatNai (the vassal king) from the other side of the river, and ShetharBozNai and his fellow servants, did exactly as they were told because of what King Darius said. ¹⁴ So the Judean elders kept on building, and they were blest, just as the Prophets HagGai and ZechariAh (the son of IdDo) foretold. They rebuilt and got everything ready, following the instructions of the God of IsraEl and by the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and ArthaSastha (ArtaXerxes), the kings of the Persians.

¹⁵ Well, they had finished the Temple by the third day of the month of Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius (544-BCE?). ¹⁶ So the sons of IsraEl, the Priests, the Levites, and all the rest who had returned in the resettlement, joyfully declared a holiday of rededication of the Temple of God. ¹⁷ And this is what they offered for the rededication: A hundred calves, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs, and four hundred winter-yearling goats as sin offerings for all IsraEl, which they did twelve times (for the number of the tribes of IsraEl). ¹⁸ They also reestablished the divisions of the Priests, and they distributed the duties at the Temple of God in JeruSalem among the Levites, just as it was written in the book of Moses.

¹⁹ Thereafter, those who had returned observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, ²⁰ for by then, all the Priests had been purified and all the Levites were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover for those who had returned, and for their brothers the Priests. ²¹ Then all the sons of IsraEl (who had returned and separated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations, so they could ask things from Jehovah the God of IsraEl) ate the Passover. ²² And they joyfully observed the holiday of Fermentation-free Bread for seven days, because Jehovah made them happy.

Thereafter, even the king of Assyria assisted them by providing [workers] for the Temple of the God of IsraEl.

Chapter 7

¹ It was during the reign of ArthaSastha (ArtaXerxes) the king of Persia, that Ezra (the son of SeraiAh, the son of AzariAh, the son of HilkiAh, ² the son of ShalLum, the son of ZaDok, the son of AhiTob, ³ the son of AmariAh, the son of AzariAh, the son of MeraiOth, ⁴ the son of ZerAhiAh, the son of UzZi, the son of BukKi, ⁵ the son of AbiShua, the son of PhiNehas, the son EliEzer, the son of Aaron the first Priest) returned from Babylon. ⁶ He was a scribe who was well versed in the Law that Jehovah the God of IsraEl gave to Moses. And because the hand of his God Jehovah was with him, the king gave him everything that he was looking for.

⁷ Then the sons of IsraEl, the Priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, ⁸ and the Nethinim returned to JeruSalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the reign of King ArthaSastha (458-BCE?). ⁹ It was on the first day of the first month that he arranged for their return from Babylon, and it was on the first day of the fifth month that [Ezra] came to JeruSalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him.

¹⁰ Now, Ezra had prepared his heart to search the Law of Jehovah and to practice and teach all its regulations and decisions in IsraEl. ¹¹ And King ArthaSastha gave a copy of the following edict to the Priest Ezra, who was the scribe of the scroll of the words of the Commandments of Jehovah… along with his orders to IsraEl.

[The decree said]: ¹² 'ArthaSastha (the king of kings) to the Priest Ezra, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven;

¹³ 'May my reply to this matter be initiated, for I've sent a decree that tells everyone in my kingdom among the people of IsraEl (and their Priests and Levites) who wish to return to JeruSalem with you, may go there. ¹⁴ And here before the king and his seven advisors, we are sending you to oversee Judea and JeruSalem with the Law of their God, ¹⁵ and to carry to the Temple of Jehovah gold and silver that the king and his counselors are willing to donate to the God of IsraEl who camps in JeruSalem. ¹⁶ And all the silver and gold that you can find in Babylon may be offered, in addition to whatever the people may wish to offer to the Temple of God in JeruSalem.

¹⁷ 'Now, for everyone who is willing to go, you must (by this edict) arrange for them to bring with them calves, rams, lambs, sacrifices, and drink offerings, to be offered at the Altar of your God that is in JeruSalem. ¹⁸ Also, carry along anything that you and your brothers see you [will need] in addition to the silver and gold. Do whatever pleases your God!

¹⁹ 'Carry with you the items that were given to you for the services at the Temple of God, and bring them before your God in JeruSalem. ²⁰ Also, carry along anything else that you see you will need for your God from the treasury in the king's palace.

²¹ 'I, King ArthaSastha, have also sent a decree regarding the treasuries that are on the other side of the river, so that whatever Ezra the Priest and scribe of the Law of the God of heaven asks of them, they must readily obey. ²² They must give you three-tons of silver, six hundred bushels of wheat, six hundred gallons of wine, six hundred gallons of olive oil, and salt (no amount was recorded). ²³ Whatever is in the decree of the God of heaven must be given to the Temple of the God of heaven!

'Be very careful, for any attempt against the Temple of the God of heaven at any time will bring [my] rage upon the king of that kingdom and upon his sons.

²⁴ 'And let it be made known that in regard to all the Priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, and officials at the Temple of God; no one is authorized to impose any sort of tax or toll on them.

²⁵ 'And you, O Ezra; Use the wisdom of God that has been placed in your hands to appoint scribes, as well as judges who know the Laws of your God, to judge all the people on the other side of the river and to teach them to those who don't know them! ²⁶ Then you must decide whether any person who doesn't diligently obey the Laws of God and the laws of the king must be killed, exiled, taught, fined, or locked in prison.'

²⁷ Praise Jehovah the God of our ancestors, who put it into the heart of the king to glorify the Temple of Jehovah in JeruSalem this way; ²⁸ and that the eyes of the king, his advisors, and his leading men have looked so mercifully upon me; and that the good hand of my God Jehovah has strengthened me, so I could gather all the leaders of IsraEl to return with me!

Chapter 8

¹ Now, these are the heads of families and the genealogies of those who came with me from the kingdom of ArthaSastha (ArtaXerxes), the king over Babylon.

² From the descendants of PhiNehas there was GerSom;
From the descendants of IthaMar there was DaniEl;
From the descendants of David there was HatTush;
³ From the descendants of ShechaniAh and the sons of PharOsh there was ZechariAh, and with him were a hundred-and-fifty who could trace their genealogies.
⁴ From the descendants of PahathMoab there was EliHoEnai (the son of ZerehiAh) and two hundred males with him;
⁵ From the descendants of ShechaniAh there was AziEl and three hundred males who came with him;
⁶ From the descendants of Adin there was Ebed (the son of JoNathan) and fifty males who came with him;
⁷ From the descendants of Elam there was IsaiAh (the son of AthaliAh) and seventy males who came with him;
⁸ From the descendants of ShephatiAh there was ZebadiAh (the son of MichaEl) and eighty males who came with him;
⁹ From the descendants of JoAb there was ObadiAh (the son of JehiEl) and two-hundred-and-eighteen males that came with him;
¹⁰ From the descendants of ShelomIth there was JosephiJa and a-hundred-and-sixty males that came with him;
¹¹ From the descendants of BebAi there was ZechariAh (the son of BebAi) and twenty-eight males who came with him;
¹² From the descendants of AzGad there was JoHanan (the son of HakKatan) and a-hundred-and-ten males that came with him;
¹³ From the descendants of AdoniKam (the latter) there was EliPhelet, JeiEl, and ShemaiAh, and sixty males who came with them;
¹⁴ From the descendants of BigVai there was UthAi and ZaboUd, and seventy males who came with them.

¹⁵ I gathered them by the river that flows past Evi, where we camped for three days. But then I noticed that there were no Priests or Levites to be found among the people. ¹⁶ So I sent [a message] to EliEzer, AriEl, ShemaiAh, ElNathan, JaRib ElNatham, Nathan, ZechariAh, and MeshulLam (their leaders), and to JoiArib and ElNathan (their supervisors), ¹⁷ and told them to go see IdDo, the ruler of the area of CasiPhiJa. Then I ordered them to tell IdDo and their brothers the Nethinim (who were the treasurers of CasiPhiJa) to send us officials and singers for the Temple of our God. ¹⁸ And because the hand of our God was good to us, a very wise man from among the sons of MahLi (a descendant of Levi, the son of IsraEl) was sent to us, along with SherEbiJah and his sons and family (some eighteen people). ¹⁹ There were also HashAbiAh and JeShaiAh from the family line of MeraRi and their families and sons (some twenty people).

²⁰ From the Nethinim, whom David had appointed over the services for the Levites, there were two-hundred-and-twenty who were all [chosen by] name.

²¹ Then I called for a fast there at the River Ahava, to humble ourselves before our God, and to seek a straight way from Him for ourselves, our children, and our possessions, ²² because I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and cavalry to protect us from our enemies along the way; for we had told the king: 'The hand of our God is with all those who search for good things from Him, and His might and rage is upon all those who abandon Him.'

²³ So, we fasted and looked to our God about this matter, and He listened to us. ²⁴ Then I selected twelve of the leaders among the Priests, and ten from among their brothers of SherEbiAh and HashAbiJa, ²⁵ and I assigned them [to guard] the silver, gold, and the items of the first-fruits that were dedicated to the Temple of our God by the king, his counselors, his governors, and by all the people of IsraEl. ²⁶ I handed over to their charge twenty-five tons of silver, four-tons of items made of silver, three-tons of gold, and ²⁷ a thousand gold bowls weighing twenty pounds each, plus many different items of shiny, high-quality brass that were as good as gold.

²⁸ Then I said to them, 'You are holy to Jehovah God, and these items of silver and gold are holy, for they are voluntary offerings to Jehovah, the God of our ancestors. ²⁹ So, stay alert and watch over them until we can hand them over to the Chief Priests, the Levites, and the heads of the families in JeruSalem, for the places of worship in the Temple of Jehovah!'

³⁰ Well, the Priests and Levites weighed the silver, gold, and other items before they carried them to JeruSalem and to the Temple of our God. ³¹ Then we got up and left the River Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, and headed toward JeruSalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, for He protected us from our enemies and other people along the way.

³² Well, when we got to JeruSalem, we just [rested up] for three days. ³³ Then on the fourth day, we put the silver, gold, and other items for the Temple of our God into the hands of MeremOth (the son of UriAh) the High Priest, EliEzer (the son of PhiNehas), JoZabad (the son of JoShua), and NoAdiAh (the son of BinNai the Levite). ³⁴ Then they weighed and recorded everything once again.

³⁵ All those who traveled with us to return from their captivity, brought whole burnt offerings to the God of IsraEl… twelve calves (one for each of the tribes of IsraEl), ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve winter-yearling goats for the sin offering. It was all to be sacrificed as whole burnt offerings to Jehovah.

³⁶ Then, following the mandate that was given by the king and his administrators, the vassal kings on the other side of the river [provided for] the people and the Temple of God.

Chapter 9

¹ After that, the leaders came to me and pointed out that we had not yet separated the people of IsraEl (or the Priests and Levites) from the peoples of the lands and the disgusting things of the CanaAnites, Hittites, Pherezites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Moserites, and Amorites. ² For, [many] had taken their daughters [as wives] for themselves and for their sons. So, the seed of what is holy had become mixed with the peoples of the lands… and even the governors and generals had become involved in this breach-of-contract.

³ Well, when I heard about this, I ripped my clothes and underwear, and I was so furious that I ripped hair from my head and beard; then I had to sit down to calm myself. ⁴ And all who were there, gathered around me; and they all started trembling because of what the God of IsraEl had said about a breach-of-contract in the resettlement [of our people].

So, I just sat there calming myself until [it came time for] the evening sacrifice. ⁵ Then I got up (after feeling so ashamed and ripping my clothes and underwear) and got down on my knees; then I spread my arms toward my God Jehovah, ⁶ and said: 'Lord, I'm ashamed… I'm too ashamed to stand up and face You, O my God, because we're in over our heads with lawbreaking; and our errors are so bad that they reach into the heavens. ⁷ Why, from the time of our ancestors to this day, we've been guilty of great sins. And it's because of our lawbreaking that our kings, our Priests, and we were handed over to the kings of the nations to be killed with swords and carried off into captivity… we were seized, and our faces have been shamed, to this day.

⁸ 'Now, O Jehovah our God; You've been lenient with us and allowed us to return [to our land] in order to teach us to rely on Your Holy Place, to open our eyes, and to put a little life into our service [to You]. ⁹ And because we are Your servants and we haven't abandoned our service to our God; the kings of Persia have been merciful to us and given life to us, so we could return to our deserted [homes], and rebuild the Temple of our God, and to fence off Judah and JeruSalem.

¹⁰ 'So, what can we say to our God after this? For, we've abandoned the Commandments ¹¹ that You gave us through the hands of Your servants the Prophets, when You said, The land that you're returning to as its heirs is a land in motion. Therefore, the people who inhabited the land have been removed from it because of the disgusting things and the filth that spilled from their mouths. ¹² So, don't give your daughters to them; don't take their daughters for your sons; and don't expect peace with them through the ages. Rather, grow stronger, eat from the good of the land, and divide it among your sons through the age!'

¹³ 'Now, after all the things that have happened to us because of the wicked things we've done, and because of all our great errors, You (our God) have [overlooked] our lawless actions and delivered us. ¹⁴ Then we turned around and disregarded Your commandments by creating alliances with the people of these lands through marriages. So, please don't become angry with us and destroy us, so that no one is left.

¹⁵ 'O Jehovah, the God of IsraEl; You are righteous, for you've preserved us to this day. And look, here we stand before You in our errors… and no one can stand before You like this.'

Chapter 10

¹ Then Ezra prayed, confessed, and cried as he was falling [on his face] before the Temple of God. And a vast gathering of men, women, and young people from IsraEl joined him, and everyone started weeping bitterly. ² Then one of them (ShechaniAh the son of JehiEl, a descendant of ElAm) said to Ezra: 'We've broken our contract with our God by [taking] wives from the people of this land. So now; because of this thing, there's no hope of IsraEl having an agreement with God. ³ But, what if we make an agreement with our God to [give away] all the wives and all those who were born to us, so we can follow the counsel of Jehovah, and so that those of us who are trembling before our God can follow His commandments? If so, then may it happen!

⁴ 'Now get up, because this matter also affects you! We are with you, so be strong enough to do whatever you must do!'

⁵ Then Ezra got up and made all the leaders, Priests, Levites, and all IsraEl swear to do what had been proposed. ⁶ So he left from [his place] in front of the Temple of God and went into the treasury of JoHanan (the son of EliAshib), and started living there, refusing to eat any food or drink any water, as he mourned over the breach-of-contract by those who had returned to resettle [the land].

⁷ Well, this was reported throughout Judah, JeruSalem, and wherever the people had resettled; then they [were all called and told to] gather in JeruSalem. ⁸ For the governors and elders [decreed] that anyone who didn't come within [the next] three days would have everything he owned destroyed, and he would be cut off from the gathering of those who had returned in the resettlement. ⁹ So, all the men of Judah and BenJamin gathered in JeruSalem during the three days.

It was in the ninth month and on the twentieth day of the month that all the people assembled and sat down in the square before the Temple of God… and they were all shaking because of the seriousness of this matter. ¹⁰ Then Ezra (the Priest) stood up and said to them: 'You have added to the sins of IsraEl and broken our contract by settling here with foreign wives. ¹¹ Now, praise Jehovah the God of our ancestors, and do what is pleasing before Him… separate yourselves from the people of this land and from your foreign wives!'

¹² Then the entire assembly shouted loudly, 'We will do just as you said!'

¹³ Well, the crowd was huge and it was winter, so no one could just be thrown out [of their homes]; and the job couldn't be done in just a day or two, for that would make all the wrongs worse. ¹⁴ [So, it was agreed that] the governors would call an assembly in the cities, and all who had married foreign wives would come there at a prearranged time to meet with the city elders and judges, so that God's anger and rage over this matter could be removed from them.

¹⁵ Now, with the help of JoNathan (the son AsahEl) and JaHaziAh (the son of TikVah), and their assistants MeshulLam and the Levite ShabBethAi, everyone who had returned in the resettlement did this. ¹⁶ So, the Priest Ezra and each of the heads of the family lines returned on the first day of the tenth month for the inquiry, ¹⁷ and the process of questioning all the men who had settled in with foreign wives lasted until the first day of the first month.

¹⁸ Well, it was found that among the Priests, those who had married foreign wives were the sons of JoShua (the son of JoZadek) and his brother MaAseiAh, and EliEzer, JaRib, and GedaliAh. ¹⁹ So they each gave their hand in a pledge to bring in their wives, along with a sin offering of a ram from among their sheep, to cover their errors.

²⁰ Then, from among the sons of ImMer there was HanaNi and ZebadiAh, ²¹ and from the sons of Harim there was MaAseiAh, EliAh, ShemaiAh, JehiEl, and UzziAh. ²² From the sons of Phasur there was EliWenai, MaAseiAh, IshMaEl, NathaniEl, JoZabad, and ElAsah. ²³ Among the Levites, there was JoZabad, Shemei, KelaiAh (also known as Kelita), PethAhiAh, Judah, and EliEzer. ²⁴ Among the singers, there was EliAshib, and from among the gatekeepers, there was ShalLum, TelEm, and Uri.

²⁵ From IsraEl there were the sons of Parosh; RamiAh, JeziAh, MalchiAh, MiAmin, EliEzer, MalchiAh, and BenaiAh. ²⁶ From the sons of ElAm there was MattaniAh, ZechariAh, JehiEl, Abdi, JeremOth, and EliAh. ²⁷ From the sons of ZatTu there was EliWenai, EliAshib, MatTaniAh, JeremOth, Zabad, and AziZa. ²⁸ From the sons of BebAi there was JehoHanan, HaNaniAh, ZabBai, and AthLai. ²⁹ From the sons of Bani there was MeshulLam, MalLuch, AdaiAh, JaShub, SheAl, and RamOth. ³⁰ From the sons of PahathMoab there was Adna, ChelAl, BenaiAh, MaAseiAh, MatthaniAh, BezaleEl, BinNui, and ManasSeh. ³¹ From the sons of Harim there was EliEzer, IshiAh, MalchiAh, ShemaiAh, and ShimeOn.

³² From BenJamin there was MalLuch and ShemariAh. ³³ From the sons of Hashum there was MatTenai, MatTathAh, Zabad, EliPhelet, JeremAi, ManasSeh, and Shimei. ³⁴ From the sons of Bani were MaAdai, AmRam, Wel, ³⁵ BenaiAh, BedeiAh, ChelLah, ³⁶ VaniAh, MeremOth, EliAshib, ³⁷ MattaniAh, and MattenAi.

³⁸ There were also the sons of Bani, Shimei, ³⁹ ShelemiAh, Nathan, AdaiAh, ⁴⁰ MachNadebAi, SharAi, ShashAi, ⁴¹ AzareEl, ShelemiAh, ShemariAh, ⁴² ShalLum, AmariAh, and Joseph. ⁴³ From the sons of Nebo there was JeiEl, MatithiAh, Zabad, Zebina, JaDau, JoEl, and BenaiAh.

⁴⁴ They all took foreign wives for themselves who each gave birth to sons.

Notes

Anointing

At Exodus 29:29 we find that Aaron and his sons were to be 'anointed' as Priests to Jehovah, and that this action would make them 'holy' or clean. It also signified that they had been chosen to this office by God. And in Leviticus, when we read of the 'anointed' Priest, the reference seems to be to one of the Priests who has been chosen for the special office of what later became known as the High Priest.

The Greek word that we have translated as anointed here, is chriseis, which can also be translated as Christ (it's just a conjugation of Christos), since christ and anointed both come from the same root, which is Greek for olive oil. So, Jesus wasn't the first or the only one to be correctly referred to as a christ.

Why olive oil? Because, that substance was traditionally poured over the heads of those whom God chose to be Priests and kings over IsraEl. However, at least in the case of Aaron and his sons, fragrant herbs were added to the oil to give it a pleasing odor. This is implied at Exodus 25:7, where the IsraElites were asked to donate 'fragrances for anointing oil.' And we find the exact formula for the anointing oil at Exodus 30:34, where we read that it was to be made from 'sixteen pounds of choice myrrh flowers, eight pounds of sweet-smelling cinnamon, eight pounds of sweet-smelling calamus, sixteen pounds of cassia (for the Holy Place), and a gallon of olive oil.'

The physical anointing with oil also appears to have pictured their receiving God's Holy Breath, making them 'holy,' which was an appropriate description for Jesus years later. And remember that both the 'anointed' priests and the kings pictured Jesus. So, the term christ, when referring to them, is apropos.

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Bible Measurements

The most common unit for measuring length, height, and depth in the Bible is a cubit, which is the length of a man's forearm. And of course, the lengths of forearms vary depending on the size of the person; so a cubit may be anywhere between eighteen and twenty-two inches. However, to give you a better idea of the size and proportions of things in the Bible, we have converted the units of measure to more familiar terms, such as feet and inches. And we have roughly averaged the sizes or lengths.

Also, some units of measure, such as a cor (about 32 bushels), hin, or bath (about 6 gallons), have been roughly estimated, since such terms are obsolete.

We have also dropped the obscure names of coins, since most readers have no idea of their value, and simply inserted the type of coin they are (gold, silver, or copper), and sometimes their size, to provide you some frame of reference.

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Breath

The Greek word pneuma (as in pneumonia, a breathing disease) means breath or wind – the movement of air. In other Bible translations, this word is often translated as spirit or ghost, as in Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. However, spirit is just a shortened form of the Latin word spiritu, which just means breath in Latin. And ghost conveys another meaning altogether.

In the Bible, the most common use of the word pneuma is to convey the idea of a force that can't be seen, such as breath or wind. And the problem with translating it as spirit or ghost, is that those words have been given religious meanings that aren't implied by the Greek texts.

Therefore, to prevent confusion, the Greek word pneuma is frequently translated as breath herein. However, there are exceptions, as in instances where the Bible refers to demons as 'spirits.' Translating pneuma as breath in these cases, although correct, might just be confusing. There are also places where we have left pneuma translated as spirit, when the word implies a person's tendency (or spirit). And, since the nuance implied by the word spirit in the English language (an unseen power) is correct, we recently changed back to translating pneuma as spirit in several places, when referring to God's Holy Spirit. However, recognize that pneuma is often best defined by calling it [God's] Holy Breath. For an example, see the Note Worshiping God In Spirit and Truth.

Another important use of the word pneuma is in the phrase, 'Breath of Life.' This phrase appears to mean more than just breathing, for it seems to refer to the entire mechanics of life itself. It's the unseen force of life for all creatures… it's what makes each cell alive. However, nowhere does the Bible describe the 'pneuma' as immortal, nor is it the same as the soul (a breathing thing), so it can (figuratively) 'return to God' at death,' because all hope of future life depends on God and His promise of a resurrection.

Note in particular how the term Breath is used at Job 27:3, where Job spoke of God's Breath or Spirit. For there he asked, 'Does the Breath of the Divine One remain in my nose?' As you can see from his application of this word, pneuma obviously referred to God's Breath, not to a person or to an unseen force. He was talking about that which comes from God and which caused him (Job) to breathe… the Breath of Life.

It is interesting that at Genesis 6:3, God said concerning the wicked people on earth before the Downpour: 'I won't allow My Breath to stay with these men through the age, for they are fleshly.' In Greek that reads, 'Ou me katameine to pneuma mou en tois anthropois toutoiseis ton aiona, dia ai einai autous sarka,' or, 'Not not should stay the Breath Mine with these men the age through, their being flesh.'

While the words Breath Mine (pneuma mou) here can refer to God's Holy Breath, it seems more likely that He is referring to the breath of life that He gave to Adam. So it appears as though what God was saying here, is that the breath of life (of the people of that age) would be removed prematurely. However, since God referred to it as 'My Breath,' there may be a link implied between God's Holy Breath and the breath of life.
For more information, see the linked document, 'The Powers of God's Holy Spirit.'

However, when Jesus died (as the words recorded at John 19:30 say), 'he hung his head and gave up the breath' (gr. kai klinas ten kephalen paredoken to pneuma, or, and inclined his head giving/up the breath). In this case, the obvious reference is to 'the breath of life,' or that force which gave him life as a human.

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The Heavens or Sky, the Earth or the Land?

In both the Ancient Scriptures of IsraEl (OT) and the Christian Era Scriptures (NT), we find all the realm of non-living creation divided into just three entities; the heavens (or sky), the earth (the land or ground), and the seas (or the waters) and rivers.

Now, in contemporary English, we understand that there is a difference between the heavens and the sky, the earth and the land (or ground), and the seas and waters. However, in both Hebrew and Greek, these fine distinctions that we accept because of our modern technology, can't be found. So, Genesis 1:1 is literally translated herein as, 'In the beginning, The God created the skies and the lands.' This is very accurate, because it was man's view of creation from the earth. There was just the land that he stood on, the sky above him, and the waters or seas over there. He had no technical understanding of the earth as a planet, because men had never seen the earth as a globe in space, as most of us have done today. However, because of these distinctions that we are aware of, translators must choose the proper words to provide the right nuances in English, in order for readers to grasp the proper meaning of each text. And as you will see, something as simple as selecting another synonym can give us a quite different view of the meanings of some common verses.

The Greek word ourano(n), for example, can be correctly translated as heaven, heavens, sky, and skies, depending on the context and tense. But if the translator should choose the wrong word, people will reach very different (and often wrong) conclusions, because of the nuances implied in English.

Likewise, the Greek words ge, ges, and gen can be translated as earth, earths, ground, grounds, land, or lands, depending on the context and tense. So, the symbolic words at 2 Peter 3:5, 6, for example, are translated herein as, 'The thing that they don't want to understand is this: That the ancient skies and land were out of the water, but (in obedience to God's instructions) they stood together between the waters.' (For an example of the problems created by the wrong use of the words ge, ges, and gen, see the linked document Isaiah 24 - Is It Speaking of Armageddon?).

Notice that the 'skies and land' were located 'between the water.' So, although other Bibles translated this verse as speaking of the 'heavens and earth,' the reference is to the portion of the heavens that are close to the earth… to the skies.

The same is true of the famous words of Jesus at Matthew 5:5, which read in Greek: 'Makarioi oi praeis hoti outoi kleronomesousin ten gen,' or, Blest the gentle for they will/inherit the (earth, ground, or land).' Notice that in some Bibles Jesus is recorded as saying, 'The meek will inherit the earth;' while in others he said, 'The meek will inherit the land.' Do you see the difference in nuances implied here? Yet, both word choices are equally correct.

And finally, when it comes to the seas (gr. tas thalassan), there are already distinctions as to different types of waters in the Greek text. For instance, seas are called thalassan and rivers are called potamos (or 'flowing'). However, notice (in Revelation 20: 13) how the resurrection of the dead is divided between those who died on land and those who were lost in the water; 'The sea gave up its dead, death and the grave gave up those dead in them, and they were all judged by the things that they did.'

We again find all three of these realms of creation brought together symbolically at Revelation 21:1, whIch we have translated as saying, 'Then I saw new skies and new lands, because the previous sky and land had disappeared, as did the sea.' So, did John see 'a new heavens and a new earth,' as some translate his words, or did he see 'new skies and new lands,' as we have quoted him? The Greek words that are used in the beginning of this verse are both in the plural tense, but in the singular tense in the latter half of the verse. So, what John says that he saw was 'new skies and new lands' which took the place of the old 'sky, land, and sea' that had just disappeared before him (he didn't see the globe and the realm of God disappear).

Also, in the case of where EliJah was taken away in a celestial chariot; most people think he was taken (as their Bibles put it) 'to heaven,' where he went to live with God. This isn't true, because King JehoRam later received a letter from Elijah (see 2 Chronicles 21:12). So, God had apparently used the celestial chariot to take him into 'the sky' (the proper translation here), where he was then sent to another place here on the earth. For more information on this, see the linked document, The Hereafter.

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Proper Pronunciation of the Letters C and CH in Greek Words

The most mispronounced letters when English-speaking people try to pronounce Greek or Hebrew names, is C (or CH). For, there is no 'soft C' pronunciation in those languages; it is always a hard C (as in Call), even when a CH is used (as in CHrist). So, the title Caesar was actually pronounced more like Kaiser (as in German). And the faithful woman Priscilla was called Prees-kee-lah, as the town of Laodicea was called La-oh-dee-keh-ah. However, don't try to pronounce those names and titles properly, because the mispronunciations are just too well entrenched in English.

When it comes to less familiar names though, one might try to pronounce them properly. Take for example, the name of the king of Elam, Chodollogomor, or the sons of Chet, or the people called the Chaldeans. In ancient Greek, they were pronounced (approximately and respectively), Kah-dah-lah-gah-mer, Ket, and Kahl-dee-owns. Oh yes, it helps to have an interlinear Bible translation to know how the word was actually spelled, and a knowledge of how Greek vowels are pronounced.

The Greeks had two letters that they pronounced as a K. One looks like a K and is pronounced that way, with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth. The other (the one we render as C and CH in English) looks like an X and is pronounced like a K, but with the tongue touching the soft palate at the back of the mouth, which gives a breathier sound to the K. For example, say Christ and notice the part of your mouth that the tongue touches. Then say Kill and notice the difference. This is the difference between CH and K.

So, why did the Greeks have different letters for such a small variation in sound? This is because they had no alphabet until about the time of their classical poet, Homer. They then borrowed or adapted their alphabet from the Hebrews (if you could examine both alphabets from that period, you would see the similarities). And since Hebrew is a more guttural language, their letter cheth (where the Greeks got their letter for CH from) has a far more pronounced palate sound.

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Why Capitals in Bible Names?

You have likely noticed that we are putting some of the letters in Bible names in capital letters. For example, we've started spelling such names as Jonathan as JoNathan, Isaiah as IsaiAh, and Eliezer as EliEzer. Why? Well, partly to help with the correct pronunciations of the names, and partly to show some translating consistency.

Of course, the common English pronunciation of Jonathan (for example) is Jon-uh-thun. But did you know that the first part of the name (Io in Greek, Ieho in Hebrew) refers to the name Jehovah, and the second part of the Name (Nathan) means Gift? So, the name was originally pronounced closer to Ye-hoh-nuh-thahn.

In the case of names that end with an iah, as in Isaiah, the last part of the name often includes the name of God. Isaiah, for example, means Salvation [of] JehovAH, and it was originally pronounced Ee-sai-Yah. Yet, there are other names (such as EliJah), where the IEs have been changed to Js.

So, why have translators substituted a capital 'J' for the letters 'Ie' in both of the above cases? Well, there is an inconsistency here, because there was no letter 'J' in Hebrew or Greek alphabets. However, the letters were changed to coincide with the common English pronunciations of these names. Unfortunately though, this process wasn't followed consistently by ancient translators; so while some names are spelled with a J, many others are still spelled with an Ie or Iah.

Another important word in names that we usually capitalize is 'El' (from the Hebrew Elohe, or God). So EliEzer (which people commonly pronounce Eelai-eezer and means God [has] Helped), should actually be pronounced Elee-ehzer. The same is true for the letters Ai, especially in the names of cities, because Ai in Hebrew refers to the word city. So, AiLam (for example) probably meant the City of Lam.

Similar words, such as Bel (as in BelShazzar), Baal, and Beel, refer to 'the Lord' or 'the God.' Also, the prefixes 'Ben' and 'Bar' mean 'the son of.' 'Beth' means 'the house of,' 'Beer' refers to a 'well,' 'Is' or 'Ish' means 'Man,' etc.

Does this mean that we have put all the capitals in the right places? No, for we make no claim to Hebrew scholarship (all our translating here has been from Greek). So, what we are trying to do is provide a better understanding to how these names were pronounced by First-Century Christians.

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House, Temple, or Palace?

Throughout the Bible, the Greek word that is used in most places to describe the Temple of Jehovah is Oikos (pronounced Oy-koss), or House. That is also true when it comes to describing the building where the king lived. However, for clarification, we have usually chosen to translate the word as Temple when speaking of the place of worship of Jehovah, and as palace when speaking of the king's house. We have done this because, neither of these buildings were just regular houses, and the words Temple and palace better describe their appearance and use in contemporary American English.

There is a Greek word that might also mean Temple; it is iero, which was occasionally used to describe that place of worship. And another Greek word that is frequently used, is naos (pronounced nah-oss), which means the place of the Gods.

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Apostasy and Apostates

The Greek word apostasis (in its various conjugated forms) is used several times in the Ancient Scriptures of IsraEl (OT). We find it used at 2 Chronicles 28:19, for example, where we've rendered it as 'turned away,' because that's what the term really means. It refers to a turning away from a righteous God-fearing way of life. For, the Greek word (which we pronounce as apostasy in English) literally means, 'turn away from (apo)' a 'standing or state (stasis).' So, it doesn't refer to a disagreement over the way some doctrine is viewed, as the word is misapplied by some religious groups.

Almost all Bible references to apostasy are speaking of a turning away from the way of IsraElite life that is outlined in the Law. And there are just two places where this term (apostasy) is used to indicate someone's unfaithfulness in the Christian Era Scriptures (NT), at Acts 21:21 and at 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

At Acts 21:21 we read (concerning the Apostle Paul): 'But they have heard the rumor that you've been teaching Judeans who live among the nations an apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to follow the traditions.'

Notice that Paul's teaching wasn't being called an apostasy; rather, the apostasy was not following the traditional Jewish way of life as outlined by Moses.

Actually, the proper word to use when speaking of teaching something that deviates from established doctrine is heresy, which is the word that the Catholic Church used extensively to accuse faithful Christians (and others) during their 'Inquisition' of 1400s and 1500s. Notice that they didn't accuse anyone of apostasy (turning from a Christian way of life), but of heresy (disagreeing with their established doctrines). So, they understood the difference.

There was at least one instance where Paul himself seemed to accuse and impose sanctions against other Christians for heresy. We find this account at 2 Timothy 2:17, 18, where he wrote: 'That was the problem with Hymenaeus and Philetus; they got away from the truth and started teaching that the resurrection has already happened, which misdirected the faith of some.'

So, deviating from teaching the truth of the Bible was a serious matter among First-Century Christians. However, in view of what Jesus said at Matthew 5:22 and what was said about Jesus at Jude 9, calling anyone such a thing as 'an apostate' or a 'heretic,' when there might be some question as to who is right, would be an even more serious matter before God.

The only other places in the Christian-Era Scriptures (NT) where the Greek word for apostasy is found, is where a 'certificate of dismissal' (divorce certificate) is mentioned (see Mark 10:4, for example). The words there are biblion apostasiu, which literally mean 'scroll of apostasy (or turning away).'

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Age, Eternal, Perpetual, Everlasting, Immortal, or Forever?

Two words imply infinite states in the Bible; one is the Greek word athanasia (undying), which is only found in two places, 1 Corinthians 15:53, where it mentions resurrected ones as clothing themselves with immortality, and at 1 Timothy 6:16, where Paul speaks of Jesus alone as having it. The other Greek word is aidios, which is used at Romans 1:20 to describe God's Power and Might as eternal, and at Jude 6 when speaking of the perpetual state of gloomy darkness that rebellious angels have been confined to.

However, the Greek word aionos, which is used throughout the Bible in various conjugated forms and is often translated as eternal and forever, is what the English word eon is derived from. It means an indefinite period, and there is no exact English word to translate it. The best equivalents are age or era.

Where the singular form (aionos) is used, this appears to mean a period such as a lifetime, generation, or era. And where the plural form of the word (aiōnōn) is used, it refers to a longer time… at least multiple generations. Also, where the term ages of the ages is used (such as at Ephesians 3:21), which is usually said in reference to The God, we would assume that this truly means forever.

It is noteworthy that aionos is the word that is used in the Greek Septuagint in place of the Hebrew word ohlam, which is also translated as forever and time indefinite in popular versions of the Ancient Scriptures of IsraEl. So, this one word (aionos) is translated as forever, everlasting, eternal, system of things, time indefinite, [end of] the world, long ago, from of old, etc. Obviously, something is very wrong here, because the word can't mean a period having a definite end in one place and infinity in another.

Take for example, the unique way that aionos is used in the question that Jesus' Apostles asked him, which is found at Matthew 24:3: 'Tell us; When will these things happen… what will be the signs when you are to arrive and this age will come to its conclusion?' Notice that aionos is also translated as world here in many Bibles, such as the KJ, and as system of things in other Bibles, such as the NWT. However, if the Apostles had meant any of those things, they would have used the Greek word cosmos (world or arrangement), not aionos.

You can see that aionos obviously doesn't mean forever, everlasting, or eternal in this case, nor did it mean world or system of things. It simply meant the age, or, the time before the end would come. And for them, that meant the age when God's Temple in JeruSalem would be destroyed, because that's what Jesus was explaining to them.

Yet, there are instances when some forms of the word could imply forever, such as when we find it in the form aiōniŏn. This is an adjective in the singular case, which, when combined with the Greek word zoe (in its various forms) is usually translated in other Bibles as everlasting life. However, that isn't a totally-accurate description.

In the past, we had tried to reconcile the words zoe aiōniŏn as meaning, life in the age. However, the word age in this instance would not be an adjective, so we have recently chosen, in most cases where we find this word combination, to translate them more accurately as age-long life, which we will agree could mean everlasting life.

For more information, see the linked Scriptural Commentary, Does the Bible Promise Everlasting Life?

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Foreign Wives and Children

While Ezra's commandment for the people of IsraEl to send away their foreign wives and children may seem harsh and unreasonable, we want to understand that these wives likely weren't proselytes of Judaism, but worshipers of foreign gods, and that was the reason for Ezra's concern. Through the ages, anyone who chose to join with IsraEl and to start worshiping Jehovah was accepted as part of that nation; and there are many notable examples of this in the Bible. However, what had apparently happened after their restoration from Babylon, was that they were making marriage alliances with the pagan peoples of the land, which Jehovah forbade, and which was the sin of Solomon. So, these pagans were ordered to return to the homes of their parents.

Also notice that kindness was shown to these wives and children; because, sufficient time was allowed so as not to just put them out in the cold. And (although the account doesn't tell us this) many could well have been given some measure of the family inheritance when they left.

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