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I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith Jehovah; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts, the holy mountain. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of Hosts. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of Jehovah of Hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in, because of the affliction for I set all men every one against his neighbour. But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith Jehovah of Hosts. For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong. For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts; as I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me

to wrath, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and I repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. These are the things that ye shall do; speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour: execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath for all these are things that I hate, saith Jehovah. The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy, and gladness, and chearful feasts; therefore, love the truth and peace.

Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, let us go speedily to pray before Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of Hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'

*

The ensuing passover was kept with great solemnity, for the priests and Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren, the priests, and for themselves. And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves. unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, did eat, and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy for Jehovah had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto

them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.*

Darius, the Mede, or Darius Hystaspes, was succeeded by his son, Xerxes, during whose reign, comprising a period of twenty-one years, nothing is recorded in Holy Scripture relative to the proceedings of the Jews;† but early in the following reign of Artaxerxes Longimannus, or Ahasuerus,‡ that remarkable transaction took place, which, by raising Hadassah,§ to the bed of the sovereign, produced a favourable impression towards the Jewish nation in the mind of that prince.||

In the seventh year of the reign of this monarch, Ezra, the scribe, obtained a decree from him, for the more complete restoration of the residue of the captivity to their own land; for Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.¶

Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests, and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine.

* Ezra, vi. 20. 22.

↑ Josephus alleges that the tribute from the Samaritans, which had been first granted by Cyrus, and twice renewed by Darius, was again confirmed by Xerxes. Vol. ii. 104.

For the critical discussion as to who this monarch actually was, see Prid. i. 308. "The Hebrews write that divers of the kings of Persia were called Artaxerxes, (or, according to the Hebrew, Artahshashte) as Pharaoh was a common name of the kings of Egypt, and Cæsar of the emperors of Rome." BARKER.

§ Gray's Key, 222.

Est. i. ii.

Ezra, vii. 1—10.

hand; and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem. And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God. The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem. And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house. And I, even I, Artaxerxes, the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra, the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily, unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

Also, we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God; it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom upon them. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them

* "So called because they were given to the temple, to cut wood and bear water, for the use of the sacrifices, and came of the Gibeonites, who were appointed to this use by Joshua, ix. 23."

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+ Prid. i. 318.

Ezra, vii. 11—25.
teresting illustration of this solemn assembly in Sir
Pner's Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 147.

§ Ezra, viii.

.xod. xxxiv. 16. Deut. vii. 3.

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