And Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and announcing the word of the Lord as the gospel with many others also.

Now after some days Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return now and visit the brothers in every city in which we announced the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.

And Barnabas intended to take John, who is called Mark, along with them also;

But Paul did not consider it suitable to take with them this one who withdrew from them in Pamphylia and did not go with them to the work.

And there was a  ¹sharp contention, so that they separated from each other; and Barnabas, taking Mark along, sailed away to Cyprus.

But Paul chose Silas and  ¹went out, having been commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers.

And he passed through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but of a Greek father;

He was well attested to by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.

Paul wanted this one to go forth with him; and he took him and  ¹circumcised him  ²because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

And so the  ¹churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily.

And they passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden  ¹by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the  ¹Spirit of Jesus did  ²not allow them.

And bypassing Mysia, they came down to Troas.

And a  ¹vision appeared to Paul during the night: A certain man, a Macedonian, was standing and entreating him and saying, Come over into  ²Macedonia and help us.

And when he had seen the vision,  ¹we immediately  ²endeavored to go forth into Macedonia,  ³concluding that God had called us to announce the gospel to them.

And putting out to sea from  ¹Troas, we ran a straight course to  ²Samothrace, and on the following day to  ³Neapolis,

And from there to Philippi, which is the leading city of that part of Macedonia, a Roman  ¹colony; and we spent some days in this city.

And on the  ¹Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there would be a place of  ²prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple-dyed goods from the city of Thyatira who worshipped God, was listening, whose heart the  ¹Lord opened to give heed to the things being spoken by Paul.

And when she was  ¹baptized, as well as her household, she entreated us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord,  ²come into my  ³house and abide. And she constrained us.

And as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave girl having a  ¹spirit of  ²Python met us, who brought her masters much profit by  ³divining.

This woman followed after Paul and us and cried out, saying, These men are slaves of the Most High God, who announce to you a way of salvation.

And she did this for many days. But Paul was greatly disturbed; and turning, he said to the spirit, I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.

Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king of Persia,  ¹Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,

The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,

The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,

The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest;

This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all his  ¹request according to the  ²hand of Jehovah his God upon him.

Some of the children of Israel and some of the priests, and the Levites and the singers and the gatekeepers and the temple servants also went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king;

For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem according to the good hand of his God upon him.

For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Jehovah and to do it and to teach His  ¹statutes and ordinances in Israel.

Now this is the copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of Jehovah and of His statutes for Israel:

 ¹Artaxerxes, the king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now

I make a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who offer themselves willingly to go to Jerusalem may go with you.

Inasmuch as you have been sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand,

And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have offered willingly to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,

As well as all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people and the priests, who offered willingly for the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem;

With this money therefore you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings; and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God, which is in Jerusalem.

And whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, you may do according to the will of your God.

And the vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem.

And the rest of the needs for the house of your God, which you have occasion to provide, you may provide for it out of the king's treasure house.

And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers who are in the province beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, it shall be done with all diligence,

Up to one hundred talents of silver and up to one hundred cors of wheat and up to one hundred baths of wine and up to one hundred baths of oil and salt without prescribing how much.

Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven. For why should wrath come upon the kingdom of the king and his sons?

We also inform you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, taxes, or tolls upon any of the priests and Levites, the singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, or servants of this house of God.

And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, all those who know the laws of your God; and teach anyone who does not know them.

And everyone who will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether to death or to banishment or to confiscation of goods or to imprisonment.

Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this into the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah, which is in Jerusalem,

And has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the mighty officers of the king. And I was strengthened according to the hand of Jehovah my God upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel leading men to go up with me.

Now these are the heads of their fathers' houses and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.

Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him one hundred fifty males were enrolled by genealogy.

Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.

And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.

And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.

And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.

Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred eighteen males.

And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him one hundred sixty males.

And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.

And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him one hundred ten males.

And of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.

And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

And I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I observed the people and the priests, I found none of the sons of Levi there.

Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, leading men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, who were teachers.

And I sent them to Iddo the leading man at the place Casiphia; and I told them what to say to Iddo and his brothers the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God.

And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; namely, Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen men;

And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

And of the temple servants, whom David and the leaders had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty temple servants — all of them were mentioned by name.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a straight way for ourselves and for our little ones and for all our possessions.

For I was ashamed to ask for troops and horsemen from the king to help us against the enemy in the way because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is for good upon all those who seek Him, but His power and His wrath is against all those who forsake Him.

So we fasted and sought our God for this, and He was entreated by us.

Then I set apart twelve of the leading men of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

And weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the  ¹heave offering for the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel there present had offered.

I weighed out into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver and one hundred silver vessels of one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold

And twenty bowls of gold of one thousand darics, and two vessels of fine polished bronze as precious as gold.

And I said to them, You are holy to Jehovah, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Jehovah, the God of your fathers.

Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and the leaders of the fathers' houses of Israel at Jerusalem in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.

So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

Then we set out from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from people set in ambush on the way.

And we came to Jerusalem and remained there three days.

And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui.

Everything was numbered and weighed, and all its weight was recorded at that time.

The children of those who had been carried away, who came out of captivity, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

And they delivered the king's decrees to the king's satraps and to the governors beyond the River, and these supported the people and the house of God.