November 11
Ezra 7 & 1Peter 3
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Ezra 7

Chapter 7

7:1After these events, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra-
Seraiah's son, Azariah's son,
Hilkiah's son,
2Shallum's son,
Zadok's son, Ahitub's son,
3Amariah's son, Azariah's son,
Meraioth's son,
4Zerahiah's son,
Uzzi's son, Bukki's son,
5Abishua's son, Phinehas's son,
Eleazar's son, Aaron the chief priest's son
6-came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he requested because the hand of Yahweh his God was on him. 7Some of the Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants accompanied him to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the seventh year of the king. 9He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month since the gracious hand of his God was on him. 10Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
11This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the Lord's commands and statutes for Israel:
12Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of heaven:
Greetings.
13I issue a decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who want to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
14You are sent by the king and his seven counselors to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your possession.
15You are also to bring the silver and gold the king and his counselors have willingly given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
16and all the silver and gold you receive throughout the province of Babylon, together with the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.
17Then you are to buy with this money as many bulls, rams, and lambs as needed, along with their grain and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem.
18You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God.
19You must deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.
20You may use the royal treasury to pay for anything else needed for the house of your God.
21I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the region west of the Euphrates River:
Whatever Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of heaven, asks of you must be provided promptly,
22up to 7,500 pounds of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of oil, and salt without limit.
23Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven, so that wrath will not fall on the realm of the king and his sons.
24Be advised that tribute, duty, and land tax must not be imposed on any priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25And you, Ezra, according to God's wisdom that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region west of the Euphrates who know the laws of your God and to teach anyone who does not know them.
26Anyone who does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a fair judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
27Praise Yahweh the God of our fathers, who has put it into the king's mind to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, 28and who has shown favor to me before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by Yahweh my God, and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.

1Peter 3

Chapter 3

3:1In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the Christian message, they may be won over without a message by the way their wives live 2when they observe your pure, reverent lives. 3Your beauty should not consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold ornaments or fine clothes. 4Instead, it should consist of what is inside the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very valuable in God's eyes. 5For in the past, the holy women who put their hope in God also beautified themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands, 6just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and are not frightened by anything alarming.
7Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives with an understanding of their weaker nature yet showing them honor as co-heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
8Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble, 9not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing.
10For the one who wants to love life
and to see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit,
11and he must turn away from evil
and do what is good.
He must seek peace and pursue it,
12because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and His ears are open to their request.
But the face of the Lord is against
those who do what is evil.
13And who will harm you if you are deeply committed to what is good? 14But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, 15but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 16However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
that He might bring you to God,
after being put to death in the fleshly realm
but made alive in the spiritual realm.
19In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison 20who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. In it a few-that is, eight people-were saved through water. 21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 22Now that He has gone into heaven, He is at God's right hand with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

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