61 Then Darius the king gave an order and a search was made in the house of the records, where the things of value were stored up in Babylon. 2 And at Achmetha, in the great house of the king in the land of Media, they came across a roll, in which this statement was put on record: 3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made an order: In connection with the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be put up, the place where they make offerings, and let the earth for the bases be put in place; let it be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide; 4 With three lines of great stones and one line of new wood supports; and let the necessary money be given out of the king's store-house; 5 And let the gold and silver vessels from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple at Jerusalem to Babylon, be given back and taken again to the Temple at Jerusalem, every one in its place, and put them in the house of God. 6 So now, Tattenai, ruler of the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and your people the Apharsachites across the river, keep far from that place: 7 Let the work of this house of God go on; let the ruler of the Jews and their responsible men put up this house of God in its place. 8 Further, I give orders as to what you are to do for the responsible men of the Jews in connection with the building of this house of God: that from the king's wealth, that is, from the taxes got together in the land over the river, the money needed is to be given to these men readily, so that their work may not be stopped. 9 And whatever they have need of, young oxen and sheep and lambs, for burned offerings to the God of heaven, grain, salt, wine, and oil, whatever the priests in Jerusalem say is necessary, is to be given to them day by day regularly: 10 So that they may make offerings of a sweet smell to the God of heaven, with prayers for the life of the king and of his sons. 11 And I have given orders that if anyone makes any change in this word, one of the supports is to be pulled out of his house, and he is to be lifted up and fixed to it; and his house is to be made waste for this; 12 And may the God who has made it a resting-place for his name send destruction on all kings and peoples whose hands are outstretched to make any change in this or to do damage to this house of God at Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given this order, let it be done with all care.

13 Then Tattenai, the ruler across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and their people, because of the order given by King Darius, did as he had said with all care. 14 And the responsible men of the Jews went on with their building, and did well, helped by the teaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. They went on building till it was complete, in keeping with the word of the God of Israel, and the orders given by Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia. 15 And the building of this house was complete on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the rule of Darius the king. 16 And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of those who had come back, kept the feast of the opening of this house of God with joy. 17 And they gave as offerings at the opening of this house of God a hundred oxen, two hundred sheep, four hundred lambs; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, being the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they put the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their order, for the worship of God at Jerusalem; as it is recorded in the book of Moses. 19 And the children of Israel who had come back kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20 For the priests and the Levites had made themselves clean together; they were all clean: and they put the Passover lamb to death for all those who had come back, and for their brothers the priests and for themselves. 21 And the children of Israel, who had come back, and all those who were joined to them, after separating themselves from the evil ways of the people of the land to become the servants of the Lord, the God of Israel, took food together, 22 And kept the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with joy: for the Lord had made them full of joy, by turning the heart of the king of Assyria to them to give them help in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra and His Company Come to Jerusalem

71 Now after these things, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia, 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 Ahitub, 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 of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest: 6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a scribe, expert in the law of Moses which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given: and the king, moved by the Lord his God, gave him whatever he made request for. 7 And some of the children of Israel went up, with some of the priests and the Levites and the music-makers and the door-keepers and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king's rule. 9 For, starting his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, he came to Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, by the good help of his God. 10 For Ezra had given his mind to learning the law of the Lord and doing it, and to teaching his rules and decisions in Israel.

11 Now this is a copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest and the scribe, who put into writing the words of the orders of the Lord, and of his rules for Israel: 12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, all peace; 13 And now it is my order that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who are ready and have a desire to go to Jerusalem, are to go with you. 14 Because you are sent by the king and his seven wise men, to get knowledge about Judah and Jerusalem, as you are ordered by the law of your God which is in your hand; 15 And to take with you the silver and gold freely offered by the king and his wise men to the God of Israel, whose Temple is in Jerusalem, 16 As well as all the silver and gold which you get from the land of Babylon, together with the offering of the people and of the priests, freely given for the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem: 17 So with this money get with care oxen, sheep, and lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, to be offered on the altar of the house of your God, which is in Jerusalem. 18 And whatever seems right to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, that do, as may be pleasing to your God. 19 And the vessels which have been given to you for the uses of the house of your God, you are to give to the God of Jerusalem. 20 And whatever more is needed for the house of your God, and which you may have to give, take it from the king's store-house. 21 And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, now give orders to all keepers of the king's money across the river, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may have need of from you, is to be done with all care, 22 Up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred measures of grain, a hundred measures of wine, and a hundred measures of oil, and salt without measure. 23 Whatever is ordered by the God of heaven, let it be done completely for the house of the God of heaven; so that there may not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. 24 In addition, we make it clear to you, that it will be against the law to put any tax or payment in goods or forced payment on any of the priests or Levites, the music-makers, door-keepers, Nethinim, or any servants of this house of God. 25 And you, Ezra, by the wisdom of your God which is in you, are to put rulers and judges to have authority over all the people across the river who have knowledge of the laws of your God; and you are to give teaching to him who has no knowledge of them. 26 And if anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, take care that punishment is given to him, by death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his goods or by putting him in prison.

27 Praise be to the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing into the heart of the king, to make fair the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem; 28 And has given mercy to me before the king and his government and before all the king's great captains. And I was made strong by the hand of the Lord my God which was on me, and I got together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

81 Now these are the heads of families who were listed of those who went up with me from Babylon, when Artaxerxes was king. 2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush; 3 Of the sons of Shecaniah; of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed a hundred and fifty males. 4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males. 5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males. 6 And of the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males. 7 And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah; the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males. 8 And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, the son of Michael; and with him eighty males. 9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males. 10 And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and sixty males. 11 And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males. 12 And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males. 13 And of the sons of Adonikam, the last, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males. 14 And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males. 15 And I made them come together by the river flowing to Ahava; and we were there in tents for three days: and after viewing the people and the priests I saw that no sons of Levi were there. 16 Then I sent for Eliezer and Ariel and Shemaiah and Elnathan Jarib and Elnathan and Nathan and Zechariah and Meshullam, all responsible men; and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise men. 17 And I sent them to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and gave them orders what to say to Iddo and his brothers the Nethinim at the place Casiphia, so that they might come back to us with men to do the work of the house of our God. 18 And by the help of our God they got for us Ish-sechel, one of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah with his sons and brothers, eighteen; 19 And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty; 20 And of the Nethinim, to whom David and the captains had given the work of helping the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them specially named.

21 Then I gave orders for a time of going without food, there by the river Ahava, so that we might make ourselves low before our God in prayer, requesting from him a straight way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance. 22 For I would not, for shame, make request to the king for a band of armed men and horsemen to give us help against those who might make attacks on us on the way: for we had said to the king, The hand of our God is on his servants for good, but his power and his wrath are against all those who are turned away from him. 23 So we went without food, requesting our God for this: and his ear was open to our prayer.

24 So I put on one side twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them, 25 And gave to them by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, all the offering for the house of our God which the king and his wise men and his captains and all Israel there present had given: 26 Measuring into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels, a hundred talents' weight, and a hundred talents of gold, 27 And twenty gold basins, of a thousand darics, and two vessels of the best bright brass, equal in value to gold. 28 And I said to them, You are holy to the Lord and the vessels are holy: and the silver and the gold are an offering freely given to the Lord, the God of your fathers. 29 Take care of them and keep them, till you put them on the scales before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the chiefs of the families of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of the Lord. 30 So the priests and the Levites took the weight of silver and gold and the vessels, to take them to Jerusalem into the house of our God.

31 Then we went away from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was on us, and he gave us salvation from our haters and those who were waiting to make an attack on us by the way. 32 And we came to Jerusalem and were there for three days. 33 And on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the vessels were measured out by weight in the house of our God into the hands of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the priest; and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui, the Levites; 34 All was handed over by number and by weight: and the weight was put on record at that time. 35 And those who had been prisoners, who had come back from a strange land, made burned offerings to the God of Israel, twelve oxen for all Israel, ninety-six male sheep, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all this was a burned offering to the Lord. 36 And they gave the king's orders to the king's captains and the rulers across the river, and they gave the people and the house of God the help which was needed.

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

211 After these things Jesus let himself be seen again by the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and it came about in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas named Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were all together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, And we will come with you. They went out and got into the boat; but that night they took no fish. 4 Now very early in the morning Jesus was there by the edge of the sea (though the disciples were not conscious that it was Jesus). 5 So Jesus said to them, Children, have you taken any fish? They made answer, No. 6 And he said to them, Let down the net on the right side of the boat and you will get some. So they put it in the water and now they were not able to get it up again because of the great number of fish. 7 So the disciple who was dear to Jesus said to Peter, It is the Lord! Hearing that it was the Lord, Peter put his coat round him (because he was not clothed) and went into the sea. 8 And the other disciples came in the little boat (they were not far from land, only about two hundred cubits off) pulling the net full of fish. 9 When they got to land, they saw a fire of coals there, with fish cooking on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, Get some of the fish which you have now taken. 11 So Peter went to the boat and came back pulling the net to land, full of great fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and though there was such a number the net was not broken. 12 Jesus said to them, Come and take some food. And all the disciples were in fear of putting the question, Who are you? being conscious that it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish in the same way. 14 Now this was the third time that Jesus let himself be seen by the disciples after he had come back from the dead.

Feed My Sheep

15 Then when they had taken food, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, is your love for me greater than the love of these others? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you are certain of my love for you. He said to him, Then give my lambs food. 16 Again, a second time, he said to him, Simon, son of John, have you any love for me? Yes, Lord, he said, you are certain of my love for you. Then take care of my sheep, said Jesus. 17 He said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, am I dear to you? Now Peter was troubled in his heart because he put the question a third time, Am I dear to you? And he said to him, Lord, you have knowledge of all things; you see that you are dear to me. Jesus said to him, Then give my sheep food. 18 Truly I say to you, When you were young, you made yourself ready and went wherever you had a desire to go: but when you are old, you will put out your hands and another will make you ready, and you will be taken where you have no desire to go. 19 Now this he said, pointing out the sort of death by which he would give God glory. And after saying this, he said to him, Come after me.

The Beloved Disciple

20 Then Peter, turning round, saw the disciple who was dear to Jesus coming after them—the disciple who was resting on his breast at the last meal, and said, Lord, who is it who will be false to you? 21 Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, What about this man? 22 Jesus said to him, If it is my desire for him to be here till I come back, what is that to you? come yourself after me. 23 So this saying went about among the brothers that this disciple would not undergo death: Jesus, however, did not say that he would not undergo death, but, If it is my desire for him to be here till I come back, what is that to you? 24 This is the disciple who gives witness about these things and who put them in writing: and we have knowledge that his witness is true. 25 And Jesus did such a number of other things that, if every one was recorded, it is my opinion that even the world itself is not great enough for the books there would be.