American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Remember them that had the rule over you, men that spake unto you the word of God; and considering the issue of their {Greek: manner of life.}life, imitate their faith.
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with {Greek: groaning.}grief: for this were unprofitable for you.
Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you {Or, overseers}bishops, to feed the church of {Some ancient authorities, including the two oldest manuscripts read God.}the Lord which he {Greek: acquired.}purchased with his own blood.
The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Tend the flock of God which is among you, {Some ancient authorities omit exercising the oversight.}exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, {Some ancient authorities omit according to the will of God.}according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.
But ye shall not be so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
For which is greater, he that {Greek: reclineth.}sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that {Greek: reclineth.}sitteth at meat? but I am in the midst of you as he that serveth.
Now in the first year of {Hebrew: Coresh.}Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
And the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid.
And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
And the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through till I come unto Judah;
and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's {Or, park}forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.
And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded to Israel.
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye grieved; for the joy of Jehovah is your {Or, stronghold}strength.
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.
And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the {Or, Circuit}plain round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites;
also from Beth-gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singers had builded them villages round about Jerusalem.
And the priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies that gave thanks and went in procession; whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate:
and after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah,
and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,
Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,
and certain of the priests' sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph;
and his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them.
And by the fountain gate, and straight before them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward.
And the other company of them that gave thanks went to meet them, and I after them, with the half of the people, upon the wall, above the tower of the furnaces, even unto the broad wall,
and above the gate of Ephraim, and by the old gate, and by the fish gate, and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of {Or, The hundred}Hammeah, even unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the gate of the guard.
So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I, and the half of the {Or, deputies}rulers with me;
and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;
and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.
And they offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.
Or know ye not that your body is a {Or, sanctuary}temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own;
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.
{Some ancient authorities read At that time was the feast}And it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem:
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing {Or, in me. 31 But that &c…I do, arise &c.}in me;
And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly:
All the saints salute you, especially they that are of Cæsar's household.
Know ye not that ye are a {Or, sanctuary}temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Or know ye not that your body is a {Or, sanctuary}temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own;