NKJV Bible in 365 Days
Return From Exile, Worship Restored — April 20
Ezra 1-3
Ezra 1
1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 365N 110.1
2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a [a] house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 365N 110.2
3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 365N 110.3
4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. 365N 110.4
5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God [b] had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. 365N 110.5
6 And all those who were around them [c] encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. 365N 110.6
7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord , which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the [d] temple of his gods; 365N 110.7
8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 365N 110.8
9 This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, 365N 110.9
10 thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. 365N 110.10
11 All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem. 365N 110.11
Ezra 2
1 Now these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city. 365N 110.12
2 Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, [a] Seraiah, [b] Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, [c] Mispar, Bigvai, [d] Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: 365N 110.13
3 the people of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two; 365N 110.14
4 the people of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two; 365N 110.15
5 the people of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five; 365N 110.16
6 the people of Pahath-Moab, of the people of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve; 365N 110.17
7 the people of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; 365N 110.18
8 the people of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five; 365N 110.19
9 the people of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty; 365N 110.20
10 the people of [e] Bani, six hundred and forty-two; 365N 110.21
11 the people of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three; 365N 110.22
12 the people of Azgad, one thousand two hundred and twenty-two; 365N 110.23
13 the people of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-six; 365N 110.24
14 the people of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty-six; 365N 110.25
15 the people of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four; 365N 110.26
16 the people of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety-eight; 365N 110.27
17 the people of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three; 365N 110.28
18 the people of [f] Jorah, one hundred and twelve; 365N 110.29
19 the people of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three; 365N 110.30
20 the people of [g] Gibbar, ninety-five; 365N 110.31
21 the people of Bethlehem, one hundred and twenty-three; 365N 110.32
22 the men of Netophah, fifty-six; 365N 110.33
23 the men of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight; 365N 110.34
24 the people of [h] Azmaveth, forty-two; 365N 110.35
25 the people of [i] Kirjath Arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three; 365N 110.36
26 the people of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one; 365N 110.37
27 the men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two; 365N 110.38
28 the men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three; 365N 110.39
29 the people of Nebo, fifty-two; 365N 110.40
30 the people of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six; 365N 110.41
31 the people of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; 365N 110.42
32 the people of Harim, three hundred and twenty; 365N 110.43
33 the people of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five; 365N 110.44
34 the people of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five; 365N 110.45
35 the people of Senaah, three thousand six hundred and thirty. 365N 110.46
36 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three; 365N 110.47
37 the sons of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two; 365N 110.48
38 the sons of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven; 365N 110.49
39 the sons of Harim, one thousand and seventeen. 365N 110.50
40 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of [j] Hodaviah, seventy-four. 365N 110.51
41 The singers: the sons of Asaph, one hundred and twenty-eight. 365N 110.52
42 The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, one hundred and thirty-nine in all. 365N 110.53
43 The Nethinim: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 365N 110.54
44 the sons of Keros, the sons of [k] Siaha, the sons of Padon, 365N 110.55
45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 365N 110.56
46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, the sons of Hanan, 365N 110.57
47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 365N 110.58
48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 365N 110.59
49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 365N 110.60
50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of [l] Nephusim, 365N 110.61
51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 365N 110.62
52 the sons of [m] Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 365N 110.63
53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Tamah, 365N 110.64
54 the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha. 365N 110.65
55 The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of [n] Peruda, 365N 110.66
56 the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 365N 110.67
57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth of Zebaim, and the sons of [o] Ami. 365N 110.68
58 All the Nethinim and the children of Solomon’s servants were three hundred and ninety-two. 365N 110.69
59 And these were the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, [p] Addan, and Immer; but they could not [q] identify their father’s house or their [r] genealogy, whether they were of Israel: 365N 110.70
60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, six hundred and fifty-two; 365N 110.71
61 and of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of [s] Koz, and the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name. 365N 110.72
62 These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled. 365N 110.73
63 And the [t] governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could consult with the Urim and Thummim. 365N 110.74
64 The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, 365N 110.75
65 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred men and women singers. 365N 110.76
66 Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules two hundred and forty-five, 365N 110.77
67 their camels four hundred and thirty-five, and their donkeys six thousand seven hundred and twenty. 365N 110.78
68 Some of the heads of the fathers’ houses, when they came to the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God, to erect it in its place: 365N 110.79
69 According to their ability, they gave to the treasury for the work sixty-one thousand gold drachmas, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priestly garments. 365N 110.80
70 So the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities. 365N 110.81
Ezra 3
1 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 365N 110.82
2 Then [a] Jeshua the son of Jozadak [b] and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 365N 110.83
3 Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its [c] bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord , both the morning and evening burnt offerings. 365N 110.84
4 They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. 365N 110.85
5 Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord . 365N 110.86
6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord , although the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. 365N 110.87
7 They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the permission which they had from Cyrus king of Persia. 365N 110.88
8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of [d] Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord . 365N 110.89
9 Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of [e] Judah, arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 365N 110.90
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord , the [f] priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord , according to the ordinance [g] of David king of Israel. 365N 110.91
11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord : “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord , because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 365N 110.92
12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, 365N 110.93
13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off. 365N 110.94