Darwinism vs the real world VII

Understanding Cardiovascular Function: Real Numbers and Valvular Heart Disease
Howard Glicksman August 23, 2015 5:54 AM


Editor's note: Physicians have a special place among the thinkers who have elaborated the argument for intelligent design. Perhaps that's because, more than evolutionary biologists, they are familiar with the challenges of maintaining a functioning complex system, the human body. With that in mind, Evolution News & Views is delighted to present this series, "The Designed Body." Dr. Glicksman practices palliative medicine for a hospice organization.


Unlike the brain, the liver, and the kidneys, the heart has only one job to do. But oh, what a job! It is responsible for pumping the blood, which contains everything the cells need to live, to organs like the brain, the liver, and the kidneys.

the-designed-body4.jpgBut as with any job, there are certain parameters that define how well it is being done. A car's job is to overcome the laws of nature to transport its driver from point A to point B in a certain amount of time. If it can't do its job properly, it is likely due to problems like inadequate gas flow into the engine or poor cylinder compression. So too, there are certain parameters that must be met for the heart to do its job -- otherwise, due to the laws of nature, the body won't be able to function properly or may even die.

My last article in this series showed that since the heart is a muscle, it needs its own blood supply, which is provided by the coronary arteries. However, the laws of nature demand that the coronary arteries be wide enough to accommodate enough blood flow. A person with coronary artery disease has narrowing of the blood vessels and reduced blood flow to one or more regions of the myocardium.

Clinical experience tells us that people with this condition are not able to be as active as our earliest ancestors would have to have been to survive. When evolutionary biologists expound on how human life came into being, they must not only talk about how the heart looks, but also how it must work within the laws of nature to do its job properly. For, as important as having adequate and properly controlled coronary blood flow is for survival, so too is having proper valve function.

The heart is a muscular pump that is divided into a right and left side by a wall called the septum. The right side pumps blood to the lungs and the left side pumps blood to the rest of the body. Each side of the heart consists of a thin-walled upper chamber, called the atrium, and a more muscular lower chamber, called the ventricle.

There are "V" shaped, one-way valves that point in the direction of blood flow between the atria and the ventricles, and the ventricles and their outflow tracts. When the valves open, they direct blood forward to where it is supposed to go and when they close, they prevent blood from going backward to where it is not supposed to go. The triscuspid valve is located between the right atrium and ventricle and the pulmonary valve is located between the right ventricle and the main pulmonary artery. The mitral valve is located between the left atrium and ventricle and the aortic valve is located between the left ventricle and the aorta.

But how do the valves know when to open and close? Just as blood, because it is matter and has mass, must follow the laws of nature by being pumped throughout the body by the heart, so too, whether the heart valves stay open or closed is also a function of those same laws.

Imagine you are trying to get into a saloon through its swinging door. A heavily muscled bouncer is blocking you from the other side. What must you do to get inside? Pressure is defined as "the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object". To get into the saloon, you must apply more pressure to your side of the swinging door than the bouncer can apply to his.

When it comes to the heart and how its valves work within the laws of nature, it is important to remember that those laws state that the pressure inside a chamber with a given amount of fluid is inversely related to the size of the chamber. This means that with a given amount of blood inside an atrium or a ventricle, if its volume decreases, the pressure within it increases, and if its volume increases, the pressure within it decreases. Also, just like in meteorology, where air always moves from an area of higher to lower pressure, so too, when a pathway is available, blood always moves from an area of higher to lower pressure.

In the left side of the heart, at the beginning of systole, when the ventricle begins to contract, the pressure within it quickly rises above that of the left atrium, causing the mitral valve to close. This prevents blood from flowing back into the atrium. As systole continues, and contraction of the left ventricle peaks, the pressure within it rises above that of the aorta and forces the aortic valve to open. This allows blood from the left ventricle to flow out of the heart into the systemic circulation.

Then, as blood leaves the left ventricle and it begins to relax, the pressure within it quickly drops below that of the aorta, making the aortic valve snap shut to prevent blood from going back into the heart. Early in diastole, as the left ventricle relaxes further and venous blood from the lungs returns to the left atrium, the mitral valve opens because the pressure within the left atrium rises above that of the left ventricle.

Throughout diastole, the blood returning to the left side of the heart through the pulmonary veins enters the left ventricle through the left atrium by way of the open mitral valve. The same process takes place in the right side of the heart for the tricuspid and pulmonary valves as well. With diastole ending and systole beginning, the cardiac cycle starts over again and the heart valves open and close as dictated by the laws of nature.

Just as a clogged fuel line can reduce the flow of gas and compromise engine function, resulting in loss of power to a car, so too, diminished blood flow through any of the heart valves can compromise cardiac output resulting in loss of power to the body. In addition, just as leaky valves in one or more cylinders of a car engine can cause poor compression and loss of power, so too, leaky heart valves that allow blood to go back in the wrong direction, can reduce the efficiency of cardiac function and result in loss of power to the body.

If our earliest ancestors had any of these heart valve defects they never could have survived to reproduce. How do we know this? Valvular Heart Disease.

Just like the guy-wires used to stabilize a tent, or the mast of a ship, the mitral valve is attached to muscles anchored in the ventricle to strengthen it. However, degeneration of the valve or ischemic injury to its supporting muscles can weaken it and when the left ventricle contracts, instead of all of the blood going through the aortic valve into the aorta, some of it goes through the mitral valve back into the left atrium. This is called mitral regurgitation, and it reduces cardiac efficiency and output, particularly during exercise, because only some of the blood goes where it is supposed to go. Most people with this condition have fatigue, lack of energy and shortness of breath with limited exertion.

Anyone who has tried to blow up a balloon can appreciate the effect of obstruction to flow and the kind of force needed to overcome it. The aortic valve area is normally 3-4 cm2. When degeneration, thickening, and hardening of the valve occurs, this causes its opening to narrow resulting in aortic stenosis.

The smaller the opening, the harder the left ventricle has to work to pump blood into the systemic circulation. An area of 1-1.5 cm2 is considered moderate, and less than 1 cm2, severe, aortic stenosis. Since blood flow to the systemic circulation is compromised, people who have this condition are prone to angina, dizziness and syncope (passing out), weakness, and shortness of breath, often with very limited activity.

It is important to keep in mind that in addition to mitral regurgitation and aortic stenosis, other less common valve problems, like mitral stenosis and aortic and tricuspid regurgitation, can occur. In fact, it is not unusual for one or more of these valve disorders to be present together.

In my last two articles we looked at how, when it comes to coronary blood flow and heart valve function, real numbers can lead to debility. But there are two more components of cardiac function that still need to be considered when trying to explain how our ancient ancestors had the ability to survive within the laws of nature: heart muscle contractility and the heart's electrical system.


Keep in mind that in real life, it is not unusual for the heart to suffer from a defect involving all four of these factors, which together would have made survival impossible for our earliest ancestors.

Yet more on life's antidarwinian bias I

The Octopus Genome: Not "Alien" but Still a Big Problem for Darwinism
Casey Luskin August 24, 2015 3:39 AM

These days, new genomes of different types of organisms are being sequenced and published on a regular basis. When some new genome is sequenced, evolutionary biologists expect that it will be highly similar to the genomes of other organisms that are assumed to be closely related.

As ENV already noted, the latest organism to have its genome sequenced has confounded that expectation: the octopus, whose genome was recently reported in Nature. It turns out to be so unlike other mollusks and other invertebrates that it's being called "alien" by the scientists who worked on that project.

One article on the subject was titled "Don't freak out, but scientists think octopuses 'might be aliens' after DNA study":

Not to send you into a meltdown or anything but octopuses are basically 'aliens' -- according to scientists.
Researchers have found a new map of the octopus genetic code that is so strange that it could be actually be an "alien".

[...]

"The octopus appears to be utterly different from all other animals, even other molluscs, with its eight prehensile arms, its large brain and its clever problem-solving abilities," said US researcher Dr Clifton Ragsdale, from the University of Chicago.

[...]

Analysis of 12 different tissues revealed hundreds of octopus-specific genes found in no other animal, many of them highly active in structures such as the brain, skin and suckers.

Obviously no one thinks the octopus is an "alien" from another planet. (Nature News quotes one co-author of the paper on the genome noting that the alien quip is a "joke.") But it certainly is alien to standard evolutionary expectations that genomes of related species ought to be highly similar. Thus, Nature points out the large number of unique genes found in the octopus genome:
Surprisingly, the octopus genome turned out to be almost as large as a human's and to contain a greater number of protein-coding genes -- some 33,000, compared with fewer than 25,000 in Homo sapiens.
This excess results mostly from the expansion of a few specific gene families, Ragsdale says. One of the most remarkable gene groups is the protocadherins, which regulate the development of neurons and the short-range interactions between them. The octopus has 168 of these genes -- more than twice as many as mammals. This resonates with the creature's unusually large brain and the organ's even-stranger anatomy. ...

A gene family that is involved in development, the zinc-finger transcription factors, is also highly expanded in octopuses. At around 1,800 genes, it is the second-largest gene family to be discovered in an animal, after the elephant's 2,000 olfactory-receptor genes.

The analysis also turned up hundreds of other genes that are specific to the octopus and highly expressed in particular tissues. The suckers, for example, express a curious set of genes that are similar to those that encode receptors for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. The genes seem to enable the octopus's remarkable ability to taste with its suckers.

Scientists identified six genes for proteins called reflectins, which are expressed in an octopus's skin. These alter the way light reflects from the octopus, giving the appearance of a different colour -- one of several ways that an octopus can disguise itself, along with changing its texture, pattern or brightness.

The technical paper explains that the octopus genome reveals "massive expansions in two gene families previously thought to be uniquely enlarged in vertebrates: the protocadherins, which regulate neuronal development, and the C2H2 superfamily of zinc-finger transcription factors." Moreover:
We identified hundreds of cephalopod-specific genes, many of which showed elevated expression levels in such specialized structures as the skin, the suckers and the nervous system.
They conclude: "Our analysis suggests that substantial expansion of a handful of gene families, along with extensive remodelling of genome linkage and repetitive content, played a critical role in the evolution of cephalopod morphological innovations, including their large and complex nervous systems." In other words, the cephalopod genome is unusual in many major respects, unlike other organisms we've sequenced.
Actually, that's not completely correct. There are some peculiar similarities between the cephalopod genome and something else they've seen -- but they aren't the kind of similarities that were predicted by common descent. The technical papers notes that the cephalopod genome bears unexpected resemblance in certain respects to vertebrate genomes -- and since these similarities aren't predicted by common descent, they predictably attribute it to convergent evolution:

the independent expansions and nervous system enrichment of protocadherins in coleoid cephalopods and vertebrates offers a striking example of convergent evolution between these clades at the molecular level.
Indeed, even within cephalopods they found evidence of convergent evolution (i.e., genetic similarity that didn't fit the expectations of common descent): "Surprisingly, our phylogenetic analyses suggest that the squid and octopus protocadherin arrays arose independently. Unlinked octopus protocadherins appear to have expanded ~135 Mya, after octopuses diverged from squid."
But the big story here is the large number of unique genes found in the octopus genome. The technical paper elaborates on one of these major gene groups:

The octopus genome encodes 168 multi-exonic protocadherin genes, nearly three-quarters of which are found in tandem clusters on the genome (Fig. 2b), a striking expansion relative to the 17-25 genes found in Lottia [a limpet], Crassostrea gigas (oyster) and Capitella [polychaete worm, and annelid] genomes.
The paper doesn't even try to speculate about how these unique cephalopod genes might have arisen. The standard view -- that new genes originate via gene duplication -- is hardly mentioned. But invoking gene duplication requires one to find another gene elsewhere that's similar. Given that cephalopods apparently have many unique genes not similar to genes found in other organisms, gene duplication might not be a candidate explanation in many of these cases. One wonders if future investigators will resort to "de novo" gene origin.
What's that? Stephen Meyer explains in Darwin's Doubt:

Remember: ORFans, by definition, have no homologs. These genes are unique -- one of a kind -- a fact tacitly acknowledged by the increasing number of evolutionary biologists who attempt to "explain" the origin of such genes through de novo ("out of nowhere") origination.
[...]

Many other papers invoke de novo origination of genes. Long mentions, for example, a study seeking to explain the origin of an antifreeze protein in an Antarctic fish that cites "de novo amplification of a short DNA sequence to spawn a novel protein with a new function." Likewise, Long cites an article in Science to explain the origin of two human genes involved in neurodevelopment that appealed to "de novo generation of building blocks -- single genes or gene segments coding for protein domains," where an exon spontaneously "originated from a unique noncoding sequence." Other papers make similar appeals. A paper in 2009 reported "the de novo origin of at least three human protein- coding genes since the divergence with chimp[s]," where each of them "has no proteincoding homologs in any other genome." An even more recent paper in PLoS Genetics reported "60 new protein- coding genes that originated de novo on the human lineage since divergence from the chimpanzee," a finding that was called "a lot higher than a previous, admittedly conservative, estimate."

Another 2009 paper in the journal Genome Research was appropriately titled "Darwinian Alchemy: Human Genes from Noncoding RNA." It investigated the de novo origin of genes and acknowledged, "The emergence of complete, functional genes -- with promoters, open reading frames (ORFs), and functional proteins -- from 'junk' DNA would seem highly improbable, almost like the elusive transmutation of lead into gold that was sought by medieval alchemists." Nonetheless, the article asserted without saying how that: "evolution by natural selection can forge completely new functional elements from apparently nonfunctional DNA -- the process by which molecular evolution turns lead into gold."

The presence of unique gene sequences forces researchers to invoke de novo origin of genes more often than they would like. After one study of fruit flies reported that "as many as ~12% of newly emerged genes in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup may have arisen de novo from noncoding DNA," the author went on to acknowledge that invoking this "mechanism" poses a severe problem for evolutionary theory, since it doesn't really explain the origin of any of its "nontrivial requirements for functionality." The author proposes that "preadaptation" might have played some role. But that adds nothing by way of explanation, since it only specifies when (before selection played a role) and where (in noncoding DNA), not how the genes in question first arose. Details about how the gene became "preadapted" for some future function is never explained. Indeed, evolutionary biologists typically use the term "de novo origination" to describe unexplained increases in genetic information; it does not refer to any known mutational process. (Darwin's Doubt, pp. 216, 220-221.)

In other words, de novo isn't an explanation at all. It's more like a magic wand to be invoked when evolutionary biologists encounter some unique gene and they have no way to explain its origin via duplication from a similar pre-existing gene. (As an evolutionary mechanism, gene duplication has its own issues.)
Nonetheless, a recent article in Quanta Magazine points out just how many recent scientific studies have resorted to calling upon de novo origin of genes:

For most of the last 40 years, scientists thought that this was the primary way new genes were born -- they simply arose from copies of existing genes. The old version went on doing its job, and the new copy became free to evolve novel functions.
Certain genes, however, seem to defy that origin story. They have no known relatives, and they bear no resemblance to any other gene. They're the molecular equivalent of a mysterious beast discovered in the depths of a remote rainforest, a biological enigma seemingly unrelated to anything else on earth.

The mystery of where these orphan genes came from has puzzled scientists for decades. But in the past few years, a once-heretical explanation has quickly gained momentum -- that many of these orphans arose out of so-called junk DNA, or non-coding DNA, the mysterious stretches of DNA between genes. "Genetic function somehow springs into existence," said David Begun, a biologist at the University of California, Davis.

If the idea that "Genetic function somehow springs into existence" doesn't sound compelling to you, join the club. But that's about as much detail as you're likely to get from proponents of de novo gene origination. One proponent of this idea in the article is even quoted saying: "It's hard to see how to get a new protein out of random sequence when you expect random sequences to cause so much trouble." Unfortunately for evolutionists, this problem seems to be common among animals, as the Quanta article continues:
This metamorphosis was once considered to be impossible, but a growing number of examples in organisms ranging from yeast and flies to mice and humans has convinced most of the field that these de novo genes exist. Some scientists say they may even be common. Just last month, research presented at the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution in Vienna identified 600 potentially new human genes. "The existence of de novo genes was supposed to be a rare thing," said Mar Albà, an evolutionary biologist at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute in Barcelona, who presented the research. "But people have started seeing it more and more."

Whenever you see "de novo" origin of a gene invoked, you know that evolutionary biologists lack any explanation for how that gene arose. Scientists haven't had much time yet to analyze the cephalopod genome, but given early reports of many unique genes, it will be interesting to learn to what extent they are forced to invoke these mysterious processes -- what amounts to evolution ex nihilo -- to explain how this "alien" genome arose.

The Book of Ezra New World Translation(2013 Edition)

1.In the first year of King Cyrus+ of Persia, in order that Jehovah’s word spoken by Jeremiah+ would be fulfilled, Jehovah stirred the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his kingdom, which he also put in writing,+ saying:
2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says, ‘Jehovah the God of the heavens has given me all the kingdoms of the earth,+ and he has commissioned me to build him a house in Jerusalem,+ which is in Judah. 3 Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of Jehovah the God of Israel—he is the true God—whose house was in Jerusalem.* 4 Anyone who is residing as a foreigner,+ wherever he may be, let him be helped by his neighbors* by their giving him silver and gold, goods and livestock, along with the voluntary offering for the house of the true God,+ which was in Jerusalem.’”
5 Then the heads of the paternal houses of Judah and of Benjamin and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit the true God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of Jehovah, which was in Jerusalem. 6 All those around them supported them by giving them* utensils of silver and of gold, goods, livestock, and valuable things, besides all the voluntary offerings.
7 King Cyrus also brought out the utensils of the house of Jehovah that Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar had taken from Jerusalem and had put in the house of his god.+ 8 King Cyrus of Persia brought them out under the supervision of Mithʹre·dath the treasurer, who made an inventory of them for Shesh·bazʹzar*+ the chieftain of Judah.
9 Now this was the inventory: 30 basket-shaped vessels of gold, 1,000 basket-shaped vessels of silver, 29 replacement vessels, 10 30 small gold bowls, 410 small silver bowls, 1,000 other utensils. 11 All the utensils of gold and of silver were 5,400. Shesh·bazʹzar brought all of these up when the exiles+ were brought out of Babylon to Jerusalem.
2 .And these were the people of the province* who came up from the captives of the exile,+ those whom King Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar of Babylon had exiled to Babylon+ and who later returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city,+ 2 those who came with Ze·rubʹba·bel,+ Jeshʹu·a,+ Ne·he·miʹah, Se·raiʹah, Re·el·aiʹah, Morʹde·cai, Bilʹshan, Misʹpar, Bigʹvai, Reʹhum, and Baʹa·nah.
The number of the Israelite men included:+ 3 the sons of Paʹrosh, 2,172; 4 the sons of Sheph·a·tiʹah, 372; 5 the sons of Aʹrah,+ 775; 6 the sons of Paʹhath-moʹab,+ of the sons of Jeshʹu·a and Joʹab, 2,812; 7 the sons of Eʹlam,+ 1,254; 8 the sons of Zatʹtu,+ 945; 9 the sons of Zacʹcai, 760; 10 the sons of Baʹni, 642; 11 the sons of Beʹbai, 623; 12 the sons of Azʹgad, 1,222; 13 the sons of Ad·o·niʹkam, 666; 14 the sons of Bigʹvai, 2,056; 15 the sons of Aʹdin, 454; 16 the sons of Aʹter, of Hez·e·kiʹah, 98; 17 the sons of Beʹzai, 323; 18 the sons of Joʹrah, 112; 19 the sons of Haʹshum,+ 223; 20 the sons of Gibʹbar, 95; 21 the sons of Bethʹle·hem, 123; 22 the men of Ne·toʹphah, 56; 23 the men of Anʹa·thoth,+ 128; 24 the sons of Azʹma·veth, 42; 25 the sons of Kirʹi·ath-jeʹa·rim, Che·phiʹrah, and Be·erʹoth, 743; 26 the sons of Raʹmah+ and Geʹba,+ 621; 27 the men of Michʹmas, 122; 28 the men of Bethʹel and Aʹi,+ 223; 29 the sons of Neʹbo,+ 52; 30 the sons of Magʹbish, 156; 31 the sons of the other Eʹlam, 1,254; 32 the sons of Haʹrim, 320; 33 the sons of Lod, Haʹdid, and Oʹno, 725; 34 the sons of Jerʹi·cho, 345; 35 the sons of Se·naʹah, 3,630.
36 The priests:+ the sons of Je·daʹiah+ of the house of Jeshʹu·a,+ 973; 37 the sons of Imʹmer,+ 1,052; 38 the sons of Pashʹhur,+ 1,247; 39 the sons of Haʹrim,+ 1,017.
40 The Levites:+ the sons of Jeshʹu·a and Kadʹmi·el,+ of the sons of Hod·a·viʹah, 74. 41 The singers:+ the sons of Aʹsaph,+ 128. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers:+ the sons of Shalʹlum, the sons of Aʹter, the sons of Talʹmon,+ the sons of Akʹkub,+ the sons of Ha·tiʹta, the sons of Shoʹbai, altogether 139.
43 The temple servants:*+ the sons of Ziʹha, the sons of Ha·suʹpha, the sons of Tab·baʹoth, 44 the sons of Keʹros, the sons of Siʹa·ha, the sons of Paʹdon, 45 the sons of Le·baʹnah, the sons of Hagʹa·bah, the sons of Akʹkub, 46 the sons of Haʹgab, the sons of Salʹmai, the sons of Haʹnan, 47 the sons of Gidʹdel, the sons of Gaʹhar, the sons of Re·aʹiah, 48 the sons of Reʹzin, the sons of Ne·koʹda, the sons of Gazʹzam, 49 the sons of Uzʹza, the sons of Pa·seʹah, the sons of Beʹsai, 50 the sons of Asʹnah, the sons of Me·uʹnim, the sons of Ne·phuʹsim, 51 the sons of Bakʹbuk, the sons of Ha·kuʹpha, the sons of Harʹhur, 52 the sons of Bazʹluth, the sons of Me·hiʹda, the sons of Harʹsha, 53 the sons of Barʹkos, the sons of Sisʹe·ra, the sons of Teʹmah, 54 the sons of Ne·ziʹah, the sons of Ha·tiʹpha.
55 The sons of the servants of Solʹo·mon: the sons of Soʹtai, the sons of So·pheʹreth, the sons of Pe·ruʹda,+ 56 the sons of Jaʹa·lah, the sons of Darʹkon, the sons of Gidʹdel, 57 the sons of Sheph·a·tiʹah, the sons of Hatʹtil, the sons of Poʹche·reth-haz·ze·baʹim, the sons of Aʹmi.
58 All the temple servants* and the sons of the servants of Solʹo·mon were 392.
59 And these went up from Tel-meʹlah, Tel-harʹsha, Cheʹrub, Adʹdon, and Imʹmer, but they were unable to verify their paternal house and their origin, as to whether they were Israelites:+ 60 the sons of De·laʹiah, the sons of To·biʹah, the sons of Ne·koʹda, 652. 61 And of the sons of the priests: the sons of Ha·baiʹah, the sons of Hakʹkoz,+ the sons of Bar·zilʹlai, who took a wife from the daughters of Bar·zilʹlai+ the Gilʹe·ad·ite and was called by their name. 62 These looked for their records to establish their genealogy, but they did not find them, so they were disqualified from the priesthood.*+ 63 The governor* told them that they could not eat from the most holy things+ until there was a priest who could consult the Uʹrim and Thumʹmim.+
64 The total number of the entire congregation was 42,360,+ 65 apart from their male and female slaves, who were 7,337; they also had 200 male and female singers. 66 Their horses were 736, their mules 245, 67 their camels 435, their donkeys 6,720.
68 When they arrived at the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the paternal houses made voluntary offerings+ for the house of the true God, to rebuild it* on its own site.+ 69 According to their means, they gave to the project treasury 61,000 gold drachmas,* 5,000 silver miʹnas,*+ and 100 robes for the priests. 70 And the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants* settled in their cities, and all the rest of Israel* settled in their cities.+
 3 .When the seventh month+ arrived and the Israelites* were in their cities, they gathered together with one accord in Jerusalem. 2 Jeshʹu·a+ the son of Je·hozʹa·dak and his fellow priests and Ze·rubʹba·bel+ the son of She·alʹti·el+ and his brothers rose up and built the altar of the God of Israel, so that they could offer up burnt sacrifices on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses+ the man of the true God.
3 So they set the altar up on its former site, despite their fear of the peoples of the surrounding lands,+ and they began offering up burnt sacrifices to Jehovah on it, the morning and the evening burnt sacrifices.+ 4 Then they held the Festival of Booths* according to what is written,+ and day by day they offered up the specified number of burnt sacrifices that were required each day.+ 5 Afterward they offered up the regular burnt offering+ and the offerings for the new moons+ and those for all the sanctified festival seasons+ of Jehovah, as well as those from everyone who willingly offered a voluntary offering+ to Jehovah. 6 From the first day of the seventh month+ they started to offer up burnt sacrifices to Jehovah, though the foundation of Jehovah’s temple had not yet been laid.
7 They gave money to the stonecutters+ and the craftsmen,+ and food and drink and oil to the Si·doʹni·ans and the Tyrʹi·ans for bringing cedar timbers by sea from Lebʹa·non to Jopʹpa,+ according to the authorization granted them by King Cyrus of Persia.+
8 In the second year after they came to the house of the true God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Ze·rubʹba·bel the son of She·alʹti·el, Jeshʹu·a the son of Je·hozʹa·dak and the rest of their brothers, the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come to Jerusalem out of the captivity+ started the work; they appointed the Levites from 20 years old and up to serve as supervisors over the work of the house of Jehovah. 9 So Jeshʹu·a, his sons and his brothers, and Kadʹmi·el and his sons, the sons of Judah, joined together to supervise those doing the work in the house of the true God, along with the sons of Henʹa·dad,+ their sons and their brothers, the Levites.
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah,+ then the priests in official clothing, with the trumpets,+ and the Levites, the sons of Aʹsaph, with the cymbals, stood up to praise Jehovah according to the direction of King David of Israel.+ 11 And they began to sing in response+ by praising and giving thanks to Jehovah, “for he is good; his loyal love toward Israel endures forever.”+ Then all the people shouted with a loud shout of praise to Jehovah because the foundation of the house of Jehovah had been laid. 12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the heads of the paternal houses—the old men who had seen the former house+—wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, while many others shouted joyfully at the top of their voice.+ 13 So the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouts from the sound of the weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly that the sound was heard from a great distance.
4.When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin+ heard that the returned exiles+ were building a temple to Jehovah the God of Israel, 2 they immediately approached Ze·rubʹba·bel and the heads of the paternal houses and said to them: “Let us build along with you; for like you, we worship* your God+ and we have been sacrificing to him since the days of King Eʹsar-hadʹdon+ of As·syrʹi·a, who brought us here.”+ 3 However, Ze·rubʹba·bel and Jeshʹu·a and the rest of the heads of the paternal houses of Israel said to them: “You have no share with us in building a house to our God,+ for we alone will build it to Jehovah the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”+
4 Then the people of the land were continually discouraging* the people of Judah and disheartening them from building.+ 5 They hired advisers against them to frustrate their plans+ all the days of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Da·riʹus+ of Persia. 6 At the beginning of the reign of A·has·u·eʹrus, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 And in the days of King Ar·ta·xerxʹes of Persia, Bishʹlam, Mithʹre·dath, Tabʹe·el, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Ar·ta·xerxʹes the king; they translated the letter into Ar·a·maʹic,+ writing it with Ar·a·maʹic characters.*
8 * Reʹhum the chief government official and Shimʹshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Ar·ta·xerxʹes, as follows: 9 (It was from Reʹhum the chief government official and Shimʹshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues, the judges and the lesser governors, the secretaries, the people of Eʹrech,+ the Babylonians, the inhabitants of Suʹsa,+ that is, the Eʹlam·ites,+ 10 and the rest of the nations that the great and honorable Asʹe·nap·par took into exile and settled in the cities of Sa·marʹi·a,+ and the rest in the region Beyond the River,* and now 11 this is a copy of the letter that they sent him.)
“To King Ar·ta·xerxʹes from your servants, the men of the region Beyond the River: And now 12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up here from you to us have arrived at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding the rebellious and wicked city, and they are finishing the walls+ and repairing the foundations. 13 Now let it be known to the king that if this city should be rebuilt and its walls finished, they will not give tax, tribute,+ or toll, and it will result in a loss to the treasuries of the kings. 14 Since we eat the salt of the palace* and it is not proper for us to see the king’s interests harmed, we have therefore sent to make this known to the king, 15 so that there may be an investigation of the book of records of your ancestors.+ You will find in the book of records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, injurious to kings and provinces,* and within it have been those stirring up sedition from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.+ 16 We are making known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will have no control* of the region Beyond the River.”+
17 The king sent word to Reʹhum the chief government official and Shimʹshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues who were dwelling in Sa·marʹi·a and the rest of the region Beyond the River:
“Greetings! And now 18 the official document that you sent us has been clearly read* before me. 19 By my order an investigation was made, and it was found that from long ago the city has had uprisings against kings, and rebellions and revolts have taken place there.+ 20 There were powerful kings over Jerusalem who ruled the whole region Beyond the River, and tax, tribute, and toll were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order for these men to stop work, so that the city may not be rebuilt until I issue an order. 22 Be careful not to neglect acting in this regard, so that the king’s interests are not harmed any further.”+
23 Now after the copy of the official document of King Ar·ta·xerxʹes had been read before Reʹhum and Shimʹshai the scribe and their colleagues, they quickly went to Jerusalem to the Jews and used force to stop them. 24 It was then that the work on the house of God, which was in Jerusalem, came to a halt; and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Da·riʹus of Persia.+
 5 .Then the prophets Hagʹgai+ and Zech·a·riʹah+ the grandson of Idʹdo+ prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and in Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2 It was then that Ze·rubʹba·bel+ the son of She·alʹti·el and Jeshʹu·a+ the son of Je·hozʹa·dak started to rebuild the house of God,+ which was in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them and supported them.+ 3 At that time Tatʹte·nai the governor of the region Beyond the River* and Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai and their colleagues came to them and asked them: “Who issued an order to you to build this house and to finish this structure?”* 4 Then they asked them: “What are the names of the men who are working on this building?” 5 But God was watching over* the elders of the Jews,+ and they did not stop them until the report could be sent to Da·riʹus and an official document could be sent back concerning this.
6 Here is a copy of the letter that Tatʹte·nai the governor of the region Beyond the River and Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai and his colleagues, the lesser governors of the region Beyond the River, sent to King Da·riʹus; 7 they sent the report to him, and this is what they wrote:
“To King Da·riʹus:
“All peace! 8 Let it be known to the king that we went to the province* of Judah to the house of the great God, and it is being built with large stones rolled into place, and timbers are being laid in the walls. The work is being eagerly done by the people and is making progress through their efforts. 9 Then we questioned their elders, asking them: ‘Who issued an order to you to build this house and to finish this structure?’*+ 10 We also asked them their names to inform you, so that we could write the names of the men who are taking the lead.
11 “This is the response they gave us: ‘We are the servants of the God of the heavens and the earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.+ 12 However, because our fathers angered the God of the heavens,+ he gave them into the hand of King Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar+ of Babylon, the Chal·deʹan, who demolished this house+ and took the people into exile to Babylon.+ 13 Nevertheless, in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, King Cyrus issued an order to rebuild this house of God.+ 14 Moreover, King Cyrus took out of the temple of Babylon the gold and silver vessels of the house of God that Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the temple of Babylon.+ They were given to a man named Shesh·bazʹzar,*+ whom Cyrus made governor.+ 15 Cyrus said to him: “Take these vessels. Go, deposit them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its former place.”+ 16 Then this Shesh·bazʹzar came, and he laid the foundations of the house of God,+ which is in Jerusalem; and it has been under construction from then until now, but it has not been completed.’+
17 “Now if it seems good to the king, let an investigation be made in the royal treasury there in Babylon, to determine whether King Cyrus issued an order to rebuild that house of God in Jerusalem;+ and let the decision of the king concerning this be sent to us.”
 6.It was then that King Da·riʹus issued an order, and they made an investigation in the archives* where the treasures were deposited in Babylon. 2 And a scroll was found in the citadel at Ec·batʹa·na, in the province* of Meʹdi·a, and the following memorandum was written on it:
3 “In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued an order concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:+ ‘Let the house be rebuilt as the place where they are to offer sacrifices, and its foundations are to be set in place; its height is to be 60 cubits,* its width 60 cubits,+ 4 with three layers of large stones rolled into place and one layer of timbers;+ and let the expense be paid from the king’s house.+ 5 Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God that Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon+ be returned, so that they may be put in their place in the temple in Jerusalem and be deposited in the house of God.’+
6 “So now Tatʹte·nai the governor of the region Beyond the River,* Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai, and your colleagues, the lesser governors of the region Beyond the River+—stay away from there. 7 Do not interfere with the work on that house of God. The governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews will rebuild that house of God in its former place. 8 Furthermore, I am issuing an order as to what you are to do for these elders of the Jews for rebuilding that house of God: From the royal treasury,+ from the tax collected in the region Beyond the River, the expenses are to be promptly given to these men to continue without interruption.+ 9 And whatever is needed—young bulls+ as well as rams+ and lambs+ for the burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat,+ salt,+ wine,+ and oil,+ just as the priests who are in Jerusalem say—is to be given them continually day by day without fail, 10 so that they may continually present offerings that please the God of the heavens and pray for the life of the king and his sons.+ 11 I have also issued an order that if anyone violates this decree, a timber will be pulled out of his house and he will be lifted up and fastened to it,* and his house will be turned into a public latrine* for this offense. 12 And may the God who has caused his name to reside there+ overthrow any king and people who lift a hand to violate this order and destroy that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I, Da·riʹus, issue this order. Let it be done promptly.”
13 Then Tatʹte·nai the governor of the region Beyond the River, Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai,+ and their colleagues promptly carried out everything that King Da·riʹus had ordered. 14 And the elders of the Jews continued building and making progress,+ urged on by the prophesying of Hagʹgai+ the prophet and Zech·a·riʹah+ the grandson of Idʹdo; they finished building it by the order of the God of Israel+ and by the order of Cyrus+ and Da·riʹus+ and King Ar·ta·xerxʹes+ of Persia. 15 They completed the house by the third day of the month of Aʹdar,* in the sixth year of the reign of King Da·riʹus.
16 Then the Israelites, the priests, the Levites,+ and the rest of the former exiles held the inauguration* of this house of God with joy. 17 And they presented for the inauguration of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel.+ 18 And they appointed the priests in their groups and the Levites in their divisions for the service of God in Jerusalem,+ according to what is written in the book of Moses.+
19 And the former exiles held the Passover on the 14th day of the first month.+ 20 The priests and the Levites, without exception, had cleansed themselves,+ so they were all clean; they slaughtered the Passover sacrifice for all the former exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 Then the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate of it, along with everyone who had joined them and had separated himself from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to worship* Jehovah the God of Israel.+ 22 They also joyfully held the Festival of Unleavened Bread+ for seven days, for Jehovah caused them to rejoice and he had made the heart of the king of As·syrʹi·a favorable toward them,+ so that he supported them* in the work of the house of the true God, the God of Israel.
7.After these things, during the reign of King Ar·ta·xerxʹes+ of Persia, Ezʹra*+ returned. He was the son of Se·raiʹah,+ son of Az·a·riʹah, son of Hil·kiʹah,+ 2 son of Shalʹlum, son of Zaʹdok, son of A·hiʹtub, 3 son of Am·a·riʹah, son of Az·a·riʹah,+ son of Me·raʹioth, 4 son of Zer·a·hiʹah, son of Uzʹzi, son of Bukʹki, 5 son of Ab·i·shuʹa, son of Phinʹe·has,+ son of El·e·aʹzar,+ son of Aaron+ the chief priest. 6 This Ezʹra came up from Babylon. He was a copyist* who was well-versed in* the Law of Moses,+ which Jehovah the God of Israel had given. The king granted everything he requested, for the hand of Jehovah his God was upon him.
7 Some of the Israelites, the priests, the Levites,+ the singers,+ the gatekeepers,+ and the temple servants,*+ went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Ar·ta·xerxʹes. 8 And Ezʹra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king. 9 On the first day of the first month, he began the journey from Babylon, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the good hand of his God was upon him.+ 10 Ezʹra had prepared his heart* to consult the Law of Jehovah and to practice it,+ and to teach its regulations and judgments in Israel.+
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Ar·ta·xerxʹes gave to Ezʹra the priest and copyist,* an expert in the study* of the commandments of Jehovah and of his regulations to Israel:
12 * “Ar·ta·xerxʹes,+ the king of kings, to Ezʹra the priest, the copyist* of the Law of the God of the heavens: May you have perfect peace. And now 13 I have issued an order that everyone in my realm of the people of Israel and their priests and Levites who is willing to go with you to Jerusalem should go.+ 14 For you are sent by the king and his seven advisers to investigate whether the Law of your God, which is with you,* is being applied in Judah and Jerusalem, 15 and to take the silver and the gold that the king and his advisers have voluntarily given to the God of Israel, whose residence is in Jerusalem, 16 with all the silver and the gold that you receive* in all the province* of Babylon, along with the gift that the people and the priests voluntarily give to the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem.+ 17 And you are to buy promptly with this money bulls,+ rams,+ lambs,+ along with their grain offerings+ and their drink offerings,+ and you are to present them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem.
18 “And whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do, you may do with the rest of the silver and the gold, according to the will of your God. 19 And all the vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, you are to deliver before God at Jerusalem.+ 20 And the rest of the necessities of the house of your God that you are required to give, you will give out of the royal treasury.+
21 “I, King Ar·ta·xerxʹes, have issued an order to all the treasurers in the region Beyond the River,* that everything that Ezʹra+ the priest, the copyist* of the Law of the God of the heavens, requests of you is to be done promptly, 22 up to 100 talents* of silver, 100 cor measures* of wheat, 100 bath measures* of wine,+ 100 bath measures of oil,+ and salt+ without limit. 23 Let everything that is ordered by the God of the heavens be done with zeal for the house of the God of the heavens,+ so that there may be no wrath against the king’s realm and his sons.+ 24 And you are further advised that it is not permitted to impose any tax, tribute,+ or toll on any of the priests and Levites, musicians,+ doorkeepers, temple servants,*+ and workers of this house of God.
25 “And you, Ezʹra, according to the wisdom that you possess from your God,* appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region Beyond the River, all those who know the laws of your God; and you should instruct anyone who does not know them.+ 26 And everyone who does not observe the Law of your God and the law of the king should have judgment executed on him promptly, whether it is death, banishment, a fine, or imprisonment.”
27 May Jehovah the God of our forefathers be praised, who put it into the heart of the king to beautify the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem!+ 28 And he has shown me loyal love before the king+ and his advisers+ and all the mighty princes of the king. So I took courage* because the hand of Jehovah my God was upon me, and I gathered out of Israel leading men* to go up with me.

8.Now these were the heads of their paternal houses and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me out of Babylon during the reign of King Ar·ta·xerxʹes:+ 2 of the sons of Phinʹe·has,+ Gerʹshom; of the sons of Ithʹa·mar,+ Daniel; of the sons of David, Hatʹtush; 3 of the sons of Shec·a·niʹah, of the sons of Paʹrosh, Zech·a·riʹah, and with him there was an enrollment of 150 males; 4 of the sons of Paʹhath-moʹab,+ Elʹie·ho-eʹnai the son of Zer·a·hiʹah, and with him 200 males; 5 of the sons of Zatʹtu,+ Shec·a·niʹah the son of Ja·ha·ziʹel, and with him 300 males; 6 of the sons of Aʹdin,+ Eʹbed the son of Jonʹa·than, and with him 50 males; 7 of the sons of Eʹlam,+ Je·shaʹiah the son of Ath·a·liʹah, and with him 70 males; 8 of the sons of Sheph·a·tiʹah,+ Zeb·a·diʹah the son of Miʹcha·el, and with him 80 males; 9 of the sons of Joʹab, O·ba·diʹah the son of Je·hiʹel, and with him 218 males; 10 of the sons of Baʹni, She·loʹmith the son of Jo·si·phiʹah, and with him 160 males; 11 of the sons of Beʹbai,+ Zech·a·riʹah the son of Beʹbai, and with him 28 males; 12 of the sons of Azʹgad,+ Jo·haʹnan the son of Hakʹka·tan, and with him 110 males; 13 of the sons of Ad·o·niʹkam,+ those who were the last, and these were their names: E·liphʹe·let, Je·iʹel, and She·maiʹah, and with them 60 males; 14 and of the sons of Bigʹvai,+ Uʹthai and Zabʹbud, and with them 70 males.

15 I assembled them at the river that comes to A·haʹva,+ and we camped there for three days. But when I examined the people and the priests, I did not find any of the Levites there. 16 So I sent for E·li·eʹzer, Arʹi·el, She·maiʹah, El·naʹthan, Jaʹrib, El·naʹthan, Nathan, Zech·a·riʹah, and Me·shulʹlam, who were leading men, and for Joiʹa·rib and El·naʹthan, who were instructors. 17 Then I gave them a command concerning Idʹdo the leader in the place called Ca·si·phiʹa. I told them to tell Idʹdo and his brothers, the temple servants* who were in Ca·si·phiʹa, to bring to us ministers for the house of our God. 18 Since the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought a discreet man from the sons of Mahʹli+ the grandson of Leʹvi the son of Israel, namely, She·re·biʹah,+ and his sons and his brothers, 18 men; 19 and Hash·a·biʹah, and with him Je·shaʹiah from the Me·rarʹites,+ his brothers and their sons, 20 men. 20 And there were 220 of the temple servants,* whom David and the princes gave to the service of the Levites, all of whom had been designated by name.

21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river A·haʹva, to humble ourselves before our God, to seek guidance from him for our journey, for us and for our children and for all our goods. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemies along the way, because we had said to the king: “The good hand of our God is over all those seeking him,+ but his strength and his anger are against all those abandoning him.”+ 23 So we fasted and made request of our God concerning this, and he listened to our entreaty.+

24 I now set apart 12 of the chiefs of the priests, namely, She·re·biʹah and Hash·a·biʹah,+ along with ten of their brothers. 25 Then I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the utensils, the contribution that the king and his advisers and his princes and all the Israelites who were present there had made to the house of our God.+ 26 Thus I weighed out into their hand 650 talents* of silver, 100 silver utensils worth 2 talents, 100 talents of gold, 27 20 small gold bowls worth 1,000 darics,* and 2 utensils of fine copper, gleaming red, as desirable as gold.

28 Then I said to them: “You are holy to Jehovah,+ and the utensils are holy, and the silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to Jehovah the God of your forefathers. 29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the princes of the paternal houses of Israel in Jerusalem,+ in the chambers* of the house of Jehovah.” 30 And the priests and the Levites took the silver and the gold and the utensils that had been weighed out to them, in order to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

31 Finally we pulled away from the river A·haʹva+ on the 12th day of the first month+ to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was over us, and he rescued us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the way. 32 So we came to Jerusalem+ and stayed there for three days. 33 And on the fourth day, we weighed out the silver and the gold and the utensils in the house of our God+ and handed them over to Merʹe·moth+ son of U·riʹjah the priest, and with him was El·e·aʹzar son of Phinʹe·has, and with them were the Levites Joʹza·bad+ son of Jeshʹu·a and No·a·diʹah son of Binʹnu·i.+ 34 Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was recorded. 35 Those coming out of the captivity, the former exiles, presented burnt sacrifices to the God of Israel, 12 bulls+ for all Israel, 96 rams,+ 77 male lambs, and 12 male goats+ as a sin offering; all of this was a burnt offering to Jehovah.+

36 Then we gave the decrees of the king+ to the satraps* of the king and the governors of the region Beyond the River,*+ and they supported the people and the house of the true God.+

 9.And as soon as these things had been done, the princes approached me and said: “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands and their detestable practices,+ those of the Caʹnaan·ites, the Hitʹtites, the Perʹiz·zites, the Jebʹu·sites, the Amʹmon·ites, the Moʹab·ites, the Egyptians,+ and the Amʹor·ites.+ 2 They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons.+ Now they, the holy offspring,*+ have become mingled with the peoples of the lands.+ The princes and the deputy rulers have been the foremost offenders in this unfaithfulness.”

3 Now as soon as I heard of this, I ripped apart my garment and my sleeveless coat and pulled out some of the hair of my head and my beard, and I sat down in shock. 4 Then everyone who had reverence for* the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiled people, while I was sitting in shock until the evening grain offering.+

5 And at the time of the evening grain offering,+ I stood up from my humiliation, with my garment and my sleeveless coat torn apart, and I got down on my knees and spread out my hands to Jehovah my God. 6 And I said: “O my God, I feel ashamed and embarrassed to raise my face to you, O my God, for our errors have multiplied over our heads and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.+ 7 From the days of our forefathers until this day our guilt has been great;+ and because of our errors, we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword,+ to captivity,+ to plunder,+ and to disgrace, as is the case today.+ 8 But now for a brief moment, favor has come from Jehovah our God by letting a remnant escape and by giving us a secure position* in his holy place,+ to make our eyes shine, O our God, and to revive us a little in our slavery. 9 For although we are slaves,+ our God has not abandoned us in our slavery; but he has extended his loyal love toward us before the kings of Persia,+ to revive us so as to raise up the house of our God+ and to restore its ruins and to give us a stone wall* in Judah and in Jerusalem.

10 “But now what can we say, O our God, after this? For we have left your commandments, 11 which you gave us through your servants the prophets, saying: ‘The land that you are going in to take possession of is an impure land because of the impurity of the peoples of the lands, because of their detestable practices with which they have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness.+ 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters to their sons, neither accept their daughters for your sons;+ and you must never seek their peace and their prosperity,+ so that you may grow strong and eat the good of the land and take possession of it for your sons forever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our bad deeds and our great guilt—for you, O our God, have not dealt with us according to our error,+ and you have allowed those of us here to escape+— 14 are we to break your commandments again and form marriage alliances* with the peoples who practice these detestable things?+ Would you not become so angry with us that you would completely destroy us, leaving no remnant or survivor? 15 O Jehovah the God of Israel, you are righteous,+ for we have survived as a remnant to this day. Here we are before you in our guilt, for it is impossible to stand before you because of this.”+

 10.While Ezʹra was praying+ and making confession, weeping and lying prostrate before the house of the true God, a large crowd of men, women, and children of Israel gathered around him, for the people were weeping profusely. 2 Then Shec·a·niʹah the son of Je·hiʹel+ of the sons of Eʹlam+ said to Ezʹra: “We have acted unfaithfully against our God by marrying* foreign women from the peoples of the land.+ Despite this, there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now let us make a covenant with our God+ to send away all the wives and those born from them, in harmony with the direction of Jehovah and of those who have reverence for* the commandment of our God.+ Let us act according to the Law. 4 Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we are with you. Be strong and take action.”

5 At that Ezʹra rose and had the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said.+ So they took an oath. 6 Ezʹra now got up from before the house of the true God and went to the chamber* of Je·ho·haʹnan the son of E·liʹa·shib. Although he went there, he ate no food and drank no water, for he was in mourning because of the unfaithfulness of the exiled people.+

7 Then they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the former exiles gather together at Jerusalem; 8 and according to the decision of the princes and the elders, anyone who did not come within three days’ time would have all his goods confiscated,* and he would be banished from the congregation of the exiled people.+ 9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem within three days, that is, in the ninth month, on the 20th day of the month. All the people were sitting in a courtyard of the house of the true God, shivering because of the matter at hand and because of the heavy rain.

10 Then Ezʹra the priest rose and said to them: “You have acted unfaithfully by marrying foreign women,+ and so you have added to the guilt of Israel. 11 Now make confession to Jehovah the God of your forefathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from these foreign wives.”+ 12 To this the whole congregation answered with a loud voice: “It is our duty to do exactly as you say. 13 However, there are many people, and it is the rainy season. It is not possible to stand outside, and the matter will not take just one or two days, for we have rebelled extensively in this matter. 14 So, please, let our princes represent the entire congregation;+ and let all those in our cities who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, along with the elders and judges of each city, until we turn back the burning anger of our God from us concerning this matter.”

15 However, Jonʹa·than the son of Asʹa·hel and Jah·zeiʹah the son of Tikʹvah objected to this, and the Levites Me·shulʹlam and Shabʹbe·thai+ supported them. 16 But the former exiles did what was agreed on; and Ezʹra the priest and the family heads of their paternal houses, all designated by name, convened separately on the first day of the tenth month to look into the matter; 17 and by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women. 18 And it was discovered that some of the sons of the priests had married foreign women:+ of the sons of Jeshʹu·a+ the son of Je·hozʹa·dak and his brothers, Ma·a·seiʹah, E·li·eʹzer, Jaʹrib, and Ged·a·liʹah. 19 But they promised* to send their wives away, and since they were guilty, they would offer a ram of the flock for their guilt.+

20 Of the sons of Imʹmer,+ there were Ha·naʹni and Zeb·a·diʹah; 21 and of the sons of Haʹrim,+ Ma·a·seiʹah, E·liʹjah, She·maiʹah, Je·hiʹel, and Uz·ziʹah; 22 and of the sons of Pashʹhur,+ Eli·o·eʹnai, Ma·a·seiʹah, Ishʹma·el, Ne·thanʹel, Joʹza·bad and El·e·aʹsah. 23 And of the Levites, there were Joʹza·bad, Shimʹe·i, Ke·laiʹah (that is, Ke·liʹta), Peth·a·hiʹah, Judah, and E·li·eʹzer; 24 and of the singers, E·liʹa·shib; and of the gatekeepers, Shalʹlum, Teʹlem, and Uʹri.

25 And of Israel, of the sons of Paʹrosh,+ there were Ra·miʹah, Iz·ziʹah, Mal·chiʹjah, Mijʹa·min, El·e·aʹzar, Mal·chiʹjah, and Be·naiʹah; 26 and of the sons of Eʹlam,+ Mat·ta·niʹah, Zech·a·riʹah, Je·hiʹel,+ Abʹdi, Jerʹe·moth, and E·liʹjah; 27 and of the sons of Zatʹtu,+ Eli·o·eʹnai, E·liʹa·shib, Mat·ta·niʹah, Jerʹe·moth, Zaʹbad, and A·ziʹza; 28 and of the sons of Beʹbai,+ Je·ho·haʹnan, Han·a·niʹah, Zabʹbai, and Athʹlai; 29 and of the sons of Baʹni, Me·shulʹlam, Malʹluch, A·daiʹah, Jaʹshub, Sheʹal, and Jerʹe·moth; 30 and of the sons of Paʹhath-moʹab,+ Adʹna, Cheʹlal, Be·naiʹah, Ma·a·seiʹah, Mat·ta·niʹah, Bezʹal·el, Binʹnu·i, and Ma·nasʹseh; 31 and of the sons of Haʹrim,+ E·li·eʹzer, Is·shiʹjah, Mal·chiʹjah,+ She·maiʹah, Shimʹe·on, 32 Benjamin, Malʹluch, and Shem·a·riʹah; 33 of the sons of Haʹshum,+ Mat·teʹnai, Matʹtat·tah, Zaʹbad, E·liphʹe·let, Jerʹe·mai, Ma·nasʹseh, and Shimʹe·i; 34 of the sons of Baʹni, Ma·a·daʹi, Amʹram, Uʹel, 35 Be·naiʹah, Be·deiʹah, Chelʹu·hi, 36 Va·niʹah, Merʹe·moth, E·liʹa·shib, 37 Mat·ta·niʹah, Mat·teʹnai, and Jaʹa·su; 38 and of the sons of Binʹnu·i, Shimʹe·i, 39 Shel·e·miʹah, Nathan, A·daiʹah, 40 Mach·nadʹe·bai, Shaʹshai, Shaʹrai, 41 Azʹar·el, Shel·e·miʹah, Shem·a·riʹah, 42 Shalʹlum, Am·a·riʹah, and Joseph; 43 and of the sons of Neʹbo, Je·iʹel, Mat·ti·thiʹah, Zaʹbad, Ze·biʹna, Jadʹdai, Joel, and Be·naiʹah. 44 All of these had taken foreign wives,+ and they sent their wives away, along with their sons.+

 

The Watchtower Society's Commentary on the book of Ezra.

EZRA, BOOK OF

A record showing how Jehovah fulfilled his promises to restore Israel from exile in Babylon and reestablish true worship in Jerusalem. Included are the imperial orders to restore Jehovah’s worship among the Jews after the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem and the account of the work done, despite obstacles, to achieve this. Ezra stuck closely to the above purpose throughout the book. This is apparently the reason for the omissions of what went on during certain lapses of time, such as between chapters 6 and 7 of the book, for the writer was not trying to give a complete historical account of the times.

Writer. Ezra, as a priest, scholar, skilled copyist, and man who had “prepared his heart . . . to teach in Israel regulation and justice” and to correct the things wanting in the worship of Jehovah that was carried on among the repatriated Israelites, was eminently qualified to write the book bearing his name. The royal power granted to him by the king of Persia would give him added reason and authority to do the research necessary, and it would be logical for such a man to write a record of this important segment of his nation’s history. (Ezr 7:6, 10, 25, 26) The book is honest, therefore, in its use of the first person for the writer from chapter 7, verse 27, through chapter 9. Most scholars are in agreement that the book of Ezra carries on the history at the point where the Chronicles leave off, as a comparison of 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23 with Ezra 1:1-3 will show. This again points to Ezra as the writer. Jewish tradition likewise assigns the writership to Ezra.

Authenticity. The book of Ezra is included in the Hebrew canon. Originally it was combined with Nehemiah to form one scroll. The Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 14b) follows this tradition, but since the 16th century, printed Hebrew Bibles mark a division, although they count the two books as one in the total number of the books of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Douay Version uses the designations First and Second Esdras, following the Greek form of spelling. It notes, however, that the second book is also known as Nehemiah. There is an apocryphal book in Greek called Ezra III. This is composed of passages from Second Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah as well as certain popular legends; also there is the book falsely called Ezra IV.

The greater portion of Ezra was written in Hebrew. But a sizable portion is in Aramaic, since Ezra copied from the public records and official documents. These include the copies of letters sent to the Persian kings by officials “beyond the [Euphrates] River” and the royal replies and decrees imposing commands on these officials. Also, Ezra supplied a brief connecting history linking these documents. Aramaic was the diplomatic language and that used in international commerce of Ezra’s day. The Aramaic portions are found in chapters 4 to 7. Some of Ezra’s information was copied from Jewish archives, and this part is, of course, in Hebrew. These facts also strengthen the argument for the authenticity of Ezra’s account.

Ezra 7:23-26 records that the Persian government approved the Law of Moses as applicable to the Jews and that the Persians thus had a hand in restoring true worship. Ezra’s references to the Persian kings put them in their accurate order. Today the majority of scholars accept the accuracy of the book, The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible frankly saying that “there is no doubt about the reliability of the historical contents.” (Edited by H. Gehman, 1970, p. 291) The record in the book is, therefore, dependable, and Ezra was a historical person.

Time and Setting. The book of Ezra was written about 460 B.C.E., along with the books of Chronicles. Ezra begins by relating the decree of Cyrus for the restoration of the Jews from Babylon. It was in the first year of Cyrus that this Persian king issued a restoration proclamation. (Ezr 1:1) Judah and Jerusalem had been left desolate of inhabitants, in the autumn of 607 B.C.E., when those left by Nebuchadnezzar moved to Egypt. The 70th year of Jerusalem’s desolation, the last enforced sabbath on the land, would end in the autumn of 537 B.C.E. Cyrus’ decree must have been issued late in 538 B.C.E. or early in 537 for two reasons. The desolation had to last until the 70th year ended, and the released Israelites would not be expected to travel in the winter rainy season, as would have been the case if the decree had been made a few months earlier. Likely it was issued in the early spring of 537 B.C.E. in order to give the Jews a chance to travel during the dry season, arrive in Jerusalem, and set up the altar on the first day of the seventh month (Tishri) of the year 537 B.C.E., September 29 according to the Gregorian calendar.—Ezr 3:2-6.

After describing the Passover and the Festival of Unfermented Cakes that were held after the temple was completed in 515 B.C.E., Ezra passes over the subsequent period of time until the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, 468 B.C.E., when Ezra personally comes into the picture. Ezra uses the first person from chapter 7, verse 27, to chapter 9 but changes to the third person in chapter 10, putting himself in the background to concentrate on the activities of princes, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of those who had been repatriated, especially dealing with correcting the situation of the ones who had married foreign wives.

[Box on page 799]

HIGHLIGHTS OF EZRA

The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem and the restoration of true worship there after the Babylonian exile

Covers a period of some 70 years following the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon

Cyrus issues liberation decree, and a remnant of Jewish exiles return to Jerusalem (in 537 B.C.E.) to rebuild the temple (1:1–3:6)

Rebuilding of the temple (3:7–6:22)

Foundation laid in second year of the return from exile

Enemies repeatedly interfere with temple rebuilding and finally succeed in having the work stopped until the prophets Zechariah and Haggai, in the second year of Darius I (520 B.C.E.), encourage the people to resume construction

An official investigation of Persian records in Babylon and Ecbatana reveals that the temple rebuilding was authorized by Cyrus, so Darius I decrees that the work continue without hindrance, stipulating the death penalty for violators

In the sixth year of Darius I (515 B.C.E.), temple construction is completed, after which the building is inaugurated and the Passover observed

Ezra goes to Jerusalem (in 468 B.C.E.) with gifts for the temple and to appoint judges (7:1–8:36)

Permission for the trip granted by Persian monarch Artaxerxes (Longimanus)

Ezra and about 1,500 men, besides 258 Levites and Nethinim from Casiphia, depart from a point of assembly at the river Ahava with gold, silver, and utensils for the temple; they arrive in Jerusalem over three and a half months later

Cleansing of Israel, including the priesthood (9:1–10:44)

Learning of the defilement from marriage to foreign women, Ezra makes public confession in prayer to Jehovah

Shecaniah acknowledges sin and proposes the making of a covenant to put away foreign wives and their offspring

All former exiles are commanded to assemble at Jerusalem; a decision is then made to have princes investigate the individual cases of defilement progressively


Priests, Levites, and the rest of the men follow through in dismissing foreign wives and sons