The True Spirit and the False Spirit

1 John 4 My dear friends, do not believe all who claim to have the Spirit, but test them to find out if the spirit they have comes from God. For many false prophets have gone out everywhere. ²This is how you will be able to know whether it is God's Spirit: anyone who acknowledges that Jesus Christ came as a human being has the Spirit who comes from God. ³But anyone who denies this about Jesus does not have the Spirit from God. The spirit that he has is from the Enemy of Christ; you heard that it would come, and now it is here in the world already.
⁴But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world. ⁵Those false prophets speak about matters of the world, and the world listens to them because they belong to the world. ⁶But we belong to God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This, then, is how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. ¹⁰This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.
¹¹Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us.
¹³We are sure that we live in union with God and that he lives in union with us, because he has given us his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵If we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we live in union with God and God lives in union with us. ¹⁶And we ourselves know and believe the love which God has for us.
God is love, and those who live in love live in union with God and God lives in union with them. ¹⁷Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the Judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's. ¹⁸There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.
¹⁹We love because God first loved us. ²⁰If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen. ²¹The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love others also.

The Book of
EZRA

Cyrus Commands the Jews to Return

Ezra 1 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the LORD made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire:

²"This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The LORD, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. ³May God be with all of you who are his people. You are to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem. ⁴If any of his people in exile need help to return, their neighbors are to give them this help. They are to provide them with silver and gold, supplies and pack animals, as well as offerings to present in the Temple of God in Jerusalem."

⁵Then the heads of the clans of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and Levites, and everyone else whose heart God had moved got ready to go and rebuild the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem. ⁶All their neighbors helped them by giving them many things: silver utensils, gold, supplies, pack animals, other valuables, and offerings for the Temple.
⁷Emperor Cyrus gave them back the bowls and cups that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem and had put in the temple of his gods. ⁸He handed them over to Mithredath, chief of the royal treasury, who made an inventory of them for Sheshbazzar, the governor of Judah, ^9-10as follows:
gold bowls for offerings - 30
silver bowls for offerings - 1,000
other bowls - 29
small gold bowls - 30
small silver bowls - 410
other utensils - 1,000
¹¹In all there were 5,400 gold and silver bowls and other articles which Sheshbazzar took with him when he and the other exiles went from Babylon to Jerusalem.

The List of Those Who Returned from Exile
(Nehemiah 7.4-73)

Ezra 2 Many of the exiles left the province of Babylon and returned to Jerusalem and Judah, all to their own hometowns. Their families had been living in exile in Babylonia ever since King Nebuchadnezzar had taken them there as prisoners. ²Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.
This is the list of the clans of Israel, with the number of those from each clan who returned from exile:
^3-20Parosh - 2,172
Shephatiah - 372
Arah - 775
Pahath Moab (descendants of Jeshua and Joab) - 2,812
Elam - 1,254
Zattu - 945
Zaccai - 760
Bani - 642
Bebai - 623
Azgad - 1,222
Adonikam - 666
Bigvai - 2,056
Adin - 454
Ater (also called Hezekiah) - 98
Bezai - 323
Jorah - 112
Hashum - 223
Gibbar - 95
^21-35People whose ancestors had lived in the following towns also returned:
Bethlehem - 123
Netophah - 56
Anathoth - 128
Azmaveth - 42
Kiriath Jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth - 743
Ramah and Geba - 621
Michmash - 122
Bethel and Ai - 223
Nebo - 52
Magbish - 156
The other Elam - 1,254
Harim - 320
Lod, Hadid, and Ono - 725
Jericho - 345
Senaah - 3,630
^36-39This is the list of the priestly clans that returned from exile:
Jedaiah (descendants of Jeshua) - 973
Immer - 1,052
Pashhur - 1,247
Harim - 1,017
^40-42Clans of Levites who returned from exile:
Jeshua and Kadmiel (descendants of Hodaviah) - 74
Temple musicians (descendants of Asaph) - 128
Temple guards (descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai) - 139
^43-54Clans of Temple workers who returned from exile:
Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
Keros, Siaha, Padon,
Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,
Hagab, Shamlai, Hanan,
Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,
Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,
Uzza, Paseah, Besai,
Asnah, Meunim, Nephisim,
Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
Neziah, and Hatipha
^55-57Clans of Solomon's servants who returned from exile:
Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,
Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,
Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth Hazzebaim, and Ami
⁵⁸The total number of descendants of the Temple workers and of Solomon's servants who returned from exile was 392.
^59-60There were 652 belonging to the clans of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda who returned from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not prove that they were descendants of Israelites.
^61-62The following priestly clans could find no record to prove their ancestry: Habaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai. (The ancestor of the priestly clan of Barzillai had married a woman from the clan of Barzillai of Gilead and had taken the name of his father-in-law's clan.) Since they were unable to prove who their ancestors were, they were not accepted as priests. ⁶³The Jewish governor told them that they could not eat the food offered to God until there was a priest who could use the Urim and Thummim.
^64-67Total number of exiles who returned - 42,360
Their male and female servants - 7,337
Male and female musicians - 200
Horses - 736
Mules - 245
Camels - 435
Donkeys - 6,720
⁶⁸When the exiles arrived at the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem, some of the leaders of the clans gave freewill offerings to help rebuild the Temple on its old site. ⁶⁹They gave as much as they could for this work, and the total came to 1,030 pounds of gold, 5,740 pounds of silver, and 100 robes for priests.
⁷⁰The priests, the Levites, and some of the people settled in or near Jerusalem; the musicians, the Temple guards, and the Temple workers settled in nearby towns; and the rest of the Israelites settled in the towns where their ancestors had lived.

God Our Protector

Psalm 91 Whoever goes to the LORD for safety,
whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,
²can say to him,
"You are my defender and protector.
You are my God; in you I trust."
³He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers
and from all deadly diseases.
⁴He will cover you with his wings;
you will be safe in his care;
his faithfulness will protect and defend you.
⁵You need not fear any dangers at night
or sudden attacks during the day
⁶or the plagues that strike in the dark
or the evils that kill in daylight.

⁷A thousand may fall dead beside you,
ten thousand all around you,
but you will not be harmed.
⁸You will look and see
how the wicked are punished.

⁹You have made the LORD your defender,
the Most High your protector,
¹⁰and so no disaster will strike you,
no violence will come near your home.
¹¹God will put his angels in charge of you
to protect you wherever you go.
¹²They will hold you up with their hands
to keep you from hurting your feet on the stones.
¹³You will trample down lions and snakes,
fierce lions and poisonous snakes.

¹⁴God says, "I will save those who love me
and will protect those who acknowledge me as LORD.
¹⁵When they call to me, I will answer them;
when they are in trouble, I will be with them.
I will rescue them and honor them.
¹⁶I will reward them with long life;
I will save them."