The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday August 5, 2020 (NIV)

The Decree of Cyrus

1 In^(A) the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah,^(B) the Lord roused the spirit^(C) of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

² This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.^{(D) 3} Any of his people among you, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel,^(E) the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ Let every survivor,^(F) wherever he resides, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

Return from Exile

⁵ So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had roused^(G)—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. ⁶ All their neighbors supported them^[a](H) with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. ⁷ King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.^{(I) 8} King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.^{(J) 9} This was the inventory:

¹¹ The gold and silver articles totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of them when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

The Exiles Who Returned

2 These^(K) now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon^[c] had deported to Babylon.^(L) They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. ² They came with Zerubbabel,^(M) Jeshua,^(N) Nehemiah, Seraiah,^(O) Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the Israelite men included^[d]

3 Parosh’s descendants(P)	2,172
4 Shephatiah’s descendants	372
5 Arah’s descendants	775
6 Pahath-moab’s descendants:
Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants	2,812
7 Elam’s descendants	1,254
8 Zattu’s descendants	945
9 Zaccai’s descendants	760
10 Bani’s descendants	642
11 Bebai’s descendants	623
12 Azgad’s descendants	1,222
13 Adonikam’s descendants(Q)	666
14 Bigvai’s descendants	2,056
15 Adin’s descendants	454
16 Ater’s descendants: of Hezekiah	98
17 Bezai’s descendants	323
18 Jorah’s descendants	112
19 Hashum’s descendants	223
20 Gibbar’s descendants	95
21 Bethlehem’s(R) people	123
22 Netophah’s men	56
23 Anathoth’s men	128
24 Azmaveth’s people	42
25 Kiriatharim’s, Chephirah’s, and Beeroth’s people	743
26 Ramah’s(S) and Geba’s people	621
27 Michmas’s men	122
28 Bethel’s and Ai’s(T) men	223
29 Nebo’s people	52
30 Magbish’s people	156
31 the other Elam’s people	1,254
32 Harim’s people	320
33 Lod’s, Hadid’s, and Ono’s people	725
34 Jericho’s(U) people	345
35 Senaah’s people	3,630

³⁶ The priests included

Jedaiah’s descendants of the house of Jeshua	973
37 Immer’s descendants	1,052
38 Pashhur’s descendants	1,247
39 and Harim’s descendants	1,017

⁴⁰ The Levites included

Jeshua’s and Kadmiel’s descendants
from Hodaviah’s descendants	74

⁴¹ The singers included

Asaph’s(V) descendants

128

⁴² The gatekeepers’^(W) descendants included

Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants,
Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants,
Hatita’s descendants, Shobai’s descendants, in all	139

⁴³ The temple servants^(X) included

⁵⁵ The descendants of Solomon’s servants^(Y) included

Sotai’s descendants, Hassophereth’s descendants,
Peruda’s descendants, 56 Jaalah’s descendants,
Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,
57 Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants,
Pochereth-hazzebaim’s descendants, and Ami’s descendants.
58 All the temple servants
and the descendants of Solomon’s servants	392.

⁵⁹ The following are those who came from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer but were unable to prove that their ancestral families^[h] and their lineage were Israelite:

60 Delaiah’s descendants,
Tobiah’s descendants,
Nekoda’s descendants	652

⁶¹ and from the descendants of the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, the descendants of Barzillai—who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and who bore their name. ⁶² These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood. ⁶³ The governor^(Z) ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.^(AA)

64 The whole combined assembly numbered	42,360
65 not including their 7,337 male and female servants,
and their 200 male and female singers.(AB)
66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules,
67 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

Gifts for the Work

⁶⁸ After they arrived at the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, some of the family heads gave freewill offerings^(AC) for the house of God in order to have it rebuilt on its original site. ⁶⁹ Based on what they could give, they gave 61,000 gold coins,^[i] 6,250 pounds^[j] of silver, and 100 priestly garments to the treasury^(AD) for the project. ⁷⁰ The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, and some of the people settled in their towns, and the rest of Israel settled in their towns.^(AE)

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.^{(A) 19} For it is written,

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law?^[b] Where is the debater of this age?^(C) Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? ²¹ For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. ²² For the Jews ask for signs^(D) and the Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified,^(E) a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.^{[c] 24} Yet to those who are called,^(F) both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, ²⁵ because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Boasting Only in the Lord

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective,^[d] not many powerful,^(G) not many of noble birth. ²⁷ Instead, God has chosen^(H) what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world^(I)—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, ²⁹ so that no one^[e] may boast in his presence.^{(J) 30} It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness,^(K) sanctification,^(L) and redemption^(M)— ³¹ in order that, as it is written:^(N) Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.^[f](O)

Paul’s Proclamation

2 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery^[g] of God to you, I did not come with brilliance^(P) of speech^(Q) or wisdom. ² I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.^{(R) 3} I came to you in weakness,^(S) in fear,^(T) and in much trembling.^{(U) 4} My speech^(V) and my preaching were not with persuasive^(W) words of wisdom^[h] but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵ so that your faith might not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.^(X)