The Psalms

DON’T FIGHT ALONE: How Isolation Keeps Us Stuck in Anxiety and Why Community Helps Us Win Mental Battles

The Shepherd and His Names: Finding God in Psalm 23

God’s Economy: The More You Give, the More You Gain

Horizon Church May Bible Reading Plan - Faith in the Wilderness: The Book of Numbers

Learning to Pray

The Battle of Pride vs. Humility

Love Your Neighbor

Stop Saying You Are “Bad With Money”

The Triumph of the Cross:  Christ’s Victory Over Death

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkDAN">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="DAN.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">The Writing on the Wall</div><div class="p"> 1King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. 2While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father#5:2 Or ancestor; or predecessor; also in verses 11, 13 and 18 had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.</div><div class="p"> 5Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.</div><div class="p"> 7The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers#5:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 11 and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, &#8220;Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Then all the king&#8217;s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.</div><div class="p"> 10The queen,#5:10 Or queen mother hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. &#8220;May the king live forever!&#8221; she said. &#8220;Don&#8217;t be alarmed! Don&#8217;t look so pale! 11There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. 12He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, &#8220;Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? 14I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. 15The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. 16Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Then Daniel answered the king, &#8220;You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.</div><div class="p"> 18&#8220;Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. 19Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. 20But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.</div><div class="p"> 22&#8220;But you, Belshazzar, his son,#5:22 Or descendant; or successor have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. 24Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.</div><div class="p"> 25&#8220;This is the inscription that was written:</div><div class="pc">mene, mene, tekel, parsin</div><div class="p"> 26&#8220;Here is what these words mean:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li3"> Mene # 5:26 Mene can mean numbered or mina (a unit of money). : God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.</div><div class="li3"> 27 Tekel # 5:27 Tekel can mean weighed or shekel. : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.</div><div class="li3"> 28 Peres # 5:28 Peres (the singular of Parsin) can mean divided or Persia or a half mina or a half shekel. : Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 29Then at Belshazzar&#8217;s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.</div><div class="p"> 30That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,#5:30 Or Chaldeans was slain, 31and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.#5:31 In Aramaic texts this verse (5:31) is numbered 6:1.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="EZR.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return</div><div class="p"> 1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:</div><div class="pmo"> 2&#8220;This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites&#8212;everyone whose heart God had moved&#8212;prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.</div><div class="p"> 7Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.#1:7 Or gods 8Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.</div><div class="p"> 9This was the inventory:</div><div class="b"></div><table class="table">
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">gold dishes</td>
 <td class="cell">30</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">silver dishes</td>
 <td class="cell">1,000</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">silver pans#1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</td>
 <td class="cell">29</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">10gold bowls</td>
 <td class="cell">30</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">matching silver bowls</td>
 <td class="cell">410</td>
</tr>
 <tr class="row">
 <td class="cell">other articles</td>
 <td class="cell">1,000</td>
</tr>
</table><div class="b"> </div><div class="p"> 11In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="EZR.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">Rebuilding the Altar</div><div class="p"> 1When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. 2Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices. 4Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. 5After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. 6On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord&#8217;s temple had not yet been laid.</div><div class="s1">Rebuilding the Temple</div><div class="p"> 7Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.</div><div class="p"> 8In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. 9Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah#3:9 Hebrew Yehudah, a variant of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers&#8212;all Levites&#8212;joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.</div><div class="p"> 10When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;He is good;</div><div class="q2">his love toward Israel endures forever.&#8221;</div><div class="m">And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.</div>
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New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="EZR.4.1+EZR.4.2+EZR.4.3+EZR.4.4+EZR.4.5">
 <div class="p">1When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, &#8220;Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, &#8220;You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.#4:4 Or and troubled them as they built 5They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="EZR.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">Tattenai&#8217;s Letter to Darius</div><div class="p"> 1Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.</div><div class="p"> 3At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, &#8220;Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?&#8221; 4They#5:4 See Septuagint; Aramaic We. also asked, &#8220;What are the names of those who are constructing this building?&#8221; 5But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.</div><div class="p"> 6This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius. 7The report they sent him read as follows:</div><div class="pmo">To King Darius:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pmo">Cordial greetings.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 8The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.</div><div class="pm"> 9We questioned the elders and asked them, &#8220;Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?&#8221; 10We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.</div><div class="pm"> 11This is the answer they gave us:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm">&#8220;We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. 12But because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.</div><div class="pm"> 13&#8220;However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14He even removed from the temple#5:14 Or palace of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple#5:14 Or palace in Babylon. Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor, 15and he told him, &#8216;Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 16&#8220;So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 17Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZR">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="EZR.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">The Decree of Darius</div><div class="p"> 1King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:</div><div class="pmo">Memorandum:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 3In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm">Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits#6:3 That is, about 90 feet or about 27 meters high and sixty cubits wide, 4with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. 5Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"> 6Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. 7Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.</div><div class="pm"> 8Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:</div><div class="pm">Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9Whatever is needed&#8212;young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem&#8212;must be given them daily without fail, 10so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.</div><div class="pm"> 11Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. 12May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.</div><div class="pm">I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.</div><div class="s1">Completion and Dedication of the Temple</div><div class="p"> 13Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. 14So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.</div><div class="p"> 16Then the people of Israel&#8212;the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles&#8212;celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering#6:17 Or purification offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 18And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.</div><div class="s1">The Passover</div><div class="p"> 19On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. 20The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. 22For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkHAG">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="HAG.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">A Call to Build the House of the Lord</div><div class="p"> 1In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak,#1:1 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak; also in verses 12 and 14 the high priest:</div><div class="p"> 2This is what the Lord Almighty says: &#8220;These people say, &#8216;The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord&#8217;s house.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4&#8220;Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: &#8220;Give careful thought to your ways. 6You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7This is what the Lord Almighty says: &#8220;Give careful thought to your ways. 8Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,&#8221; says the Lord. 9&#8220;You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?&#8221; declares the Lord Almighty. &#8220;Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 13Then Haggai, the Lord&#8217;s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: &#8220;I am with you,&#8221; declares the Lord. 14So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.</div><div class="s1">The Promised Glory of the New House</div><div class="p">In the second year of King Darius,</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkHAG">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="HAG.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="nb"> 1on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2&#8220;Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,#2:2 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak; also in verse 4 the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3&#8216;Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4But now be strong, Zerubbabel,&#8217; declares the Lord. &#8216;Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,&#8217; declares the Lord, &#8216;and work. For I am with you,&#8217; declares the Lord Almighty. 5&#8216;This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 6&#8220;This is what the Lord Almighty says: &#8216;In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,&#8217; says the Lord Almighty. 8&#8216;The silver is mine and the gold is mine,&#8217; declares the Lord Almighty. 9&#8216;The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,&#8217; says the Lord Almighty. &#8216;And in this place I will grant peace,&#8217; declares the Lord Almighty.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Blessings for a Defiled People</div><div class="p"> 10On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: 11&#8220;This is what the Lord Almighty says: &#8216;Ask the priests what the law says: 12If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p">The priests answered, &#8220;No.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Then Haggai said, &#8220;If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Yes,&#8221; the priests replied, &#8220;it becomes defiled.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Then Haggai said, &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,&#8217; declares the Lord. &#8216;Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.</div><div class="p"> 15&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Now give careful thought to this from this day on#2:15 Or to the days past&#8212;consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord&#8217;s temple. 16When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,&#8217; declares the Lord. 18&#8216;From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord&#8217;s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.</div><div class="p">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;From this day on I will bless you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Zerubbabel the Lord&#8217;s Signet Ring</div><div class="p"> 20The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21&#8220;Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.</div><div class="p"> 23&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;On that day,&#8217; declares the Lord Almighty, &#8216;I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,&#8217; declares the Lord, &#8216;and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,&#8217; declares the Lord Almighty.&#8221;</div>
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The Bible in 12 Days : Discover God’s Story of RedemptionSample

Part 8: Babylonian Exile & Restoration

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