The Sunday School Lesson Return From Exile by David McGee
Oct 18, 2020
Return From Exile (46:54)
Referenced Scriptures: Ezra 1:1-5; Ezra 3:8-13; Ezra 6:13-18; Nehemiah 2:11-20; Nehemiah 3:1-35; Nehemiah 6:15-16; Malachi 3:1-18
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The scriptures below are from the WEB Bible.
Ezra 1:1-5
1) Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Yahweh 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,
2) Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has Yahweh, the God of heaven, given me; and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3) Whoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.
4) Whoever is left, in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with animals, besides the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
5) Then rose up the heads of fathers‘ [houses] of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to build the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem.
Ezra 3:8-13
8) Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who were come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of Yahweh.
9) Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to have the oversight of the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.
10) When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh, they set the priests in their clothing with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Yahweh, after the order of David king of Israel.
11) They sang one to another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, [saying], For he is good, for his lovingkindness endures forever toward Israel. All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid.
12) But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers‘ [houses], the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
13) so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.
Ezra 6:13-18
13) Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, because that Darius the king had sent, did accordingly with all diligence.
14) The elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
15) This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16) The children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.
17) They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
18) They set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.
Nehemiah 2:11-20
11) So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12) I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any animal with me, except the animal that I rode on.
13) I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal‘s well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates of it were consumed with fire.
14) Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king‘s pool: but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
15) Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
16) The rulers didn‘t know where I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.
17) Then said I to them, You see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and the gates of it are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
18) I told them of the hand of my God which was good on me, as also of the king‘s words that he had spoken to me. They said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good [work].
19) But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that you do? will you rebel against the king?
20) Then answered I them, and said to them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 3:1-35
1) Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananel.
2) Next to him built the men of Jericho. Next to them built Zaccur the son of Imri.
3) The fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build; they laid the beams of it, and set up the doors of it, the bolts of it, and the bars of it.
4) Next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz. Next to them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel. Next to them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.
5) Next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles didn‘t put their necks to the work of their lord.
6) The old gate repaired Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams of it, and set up the doors of it, and the bolts of it, and the bars of it.
7) Next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, [that appertained] to the throne of the governor beyond the River.
8) Next to him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths. Next to him repaired Hananiah one of the perfumers, and they fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall.
9) Next to them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem.
10) Next to them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, over against his house. Next to him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabneiah.
11) Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces.
12) Next to him repaired Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
13) The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors of it, the bolts of it, and the bars of it, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.
14) The dung gate repaired Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem; he built it, and set up the doors of it, the bolts of it, and the bars of it.
15) The spring gate repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors of it, the bolts of it, and the bars of it, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king‘s garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David.
16) After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, to the place over against the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men.
17) After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for his district.
18) After him repaired their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah.
19) Next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another portion, over against the ascent to the armory at the turning [of the wall].
20) After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning [of the wall] to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
21) After him repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.
22) After him repaired the priests, the men of the Plain.
23) After them repaired Benjamin and Hasshub over against their house. After them repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah beside his own house.
24) After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning [of the wall], and to the corner.
25) Palal the son of Uzai [repaired] over against the turning [of the wall], and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh [repaired].
26) (Now the Nethinim lived in Ophel, to the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.)
27) After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, over against the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.
28) Above the horse gate repaired the priests, everyone over against his own house.
29) After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his own house. After him repaired Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate.
30) After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another portion. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber.
31) After him repaired Malchijah one of the goldsmiths to the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, over against the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.
32) Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.
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Nehemiah 6:15-16
15) So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth [day] of [the month] Elul, in fifty-two days.
16) It happened, when all our enemies heard [of it], that all the nations that were about us feared, and were much cast down in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was worked of our God.
Malachi 3:1-18
1) Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes, says Yahweh of hosts.
2) But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he is like a refiner‘s fire, and like fuller‘s soap:
3) and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.
4) Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
5) I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who turn aside the sojourner [from his right], and don‘t fear me, says Yahweh of Hosts.
6) For I, Yahweh, don‘t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
7) From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says Yahweh of Hosts. But you say, Wherein shall we return?
8) Will a man rob God? yet you rob me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings.
9) You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.
10) Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, says Yahweh of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough [to receive it].
11) I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, says Yahweh of Hosts.
12) All nations shall call you happy; for you shall be a delightful land, says Yahweh of Hosts.
13) Your words have been stout against me, says Yahweh. Yet you say, What have we spoken against you?
14) You have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Hosts?
15) Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.
16) Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and that thought on his name.
17) They shall be my, says Yahweh of Hosts, [even] my own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.
18) Then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn‘t serve him.
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