1 Esdras 7

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1Then Sisinnes the governor of Celosyria and Phenice, and Sathrabuzanes, with their companions following the commandments of king Darius,

Then Sisinnes the governor of Celosyria and Phenice, and Sathrabuzanes, with their companions following the commandments of king Darius.

2Did very carefully oversee the holy works, assisting the ancients of the Jews and governors of the temple.

Did very carefully oversee the holy works, assisting the ancients of the Jews and governors of the temple — the former questioners now assisting the sanctuary's governors.

3And so the holy works prospered, when Aggeus and Zacharias the prophets prophesied.

And so the holy works prospered, when Aggeus and Zacharias the prophets prophesied — the work flourishing while the forth-telling faculties speak.

4And they finished these things by the commandment of the Lord God of Israel, and with the consent of Cyrus, Darius, and Artexerxes, kings of Persia.

And they finished these things by the commandment of the Lord God of Israel, and with the consent of Cyrus, Darius, and Artexerxes, kings of Persia — finished under the LORD's command, with the consent of ruling state after ruling state.

5And thus was the holy house finished in the three and twentieth day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of Darius king of the Persians

And thus was the holy house finished in the three and twentieth day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of Darius king of the Persians.

6And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and others that were of the captivity, that were added unto them, did according to the things written in the book of Moses.

And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and others that were of the captivity, that were added unto them, did according to the things written in the book of Moses — the returned faculties ordered by the deliverer-lawgiver's book.

7And to the dedication of the temple of the Lord they offered an hundred bullocks two hundred rams, four hundred lambs;

And to the dedication of the temple of the Lord they offered an hundred bullocks two hundred rams, four hundred lambs — the sanctuary yielded to its use in a great offering, every number exact.

8And twelve goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the chief of the tribes of Israel.

And twelve goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the chief of the tribes of Israel — a sin offering, a faculty yielded specifically for its error, for the whole house in its twelvefold order.

9The priests also and the Levites stood arrayed in their vestments, according to their kindreds, in the service of the Lord God of Israel, according to the book of Moses: and the porters at every gate.

The priests also and the Levites stood arrayed in their vestments, according to their kindreds, in the service of the Lord God of Israel, according to the book of Moses: and the porters at every gate — every mediating and serving and gate-guarding faculty in its place.

10And the children of Israel that were of the captivity held the passover the fourteenth day of the first month, after that the priests and the Levites were sanctified.

And the children of Israel that were of the captivity held the passover the fourteenth day of the first month, after that the priests and the Levites were sanctified — the passing-over kept by the returned states, the ministers first set apart wholly to the order.

11They that were of the captivity were not all sanctified together: but the Levites were all sanctified together.

They that were of the captivity were not all sanctified together: but the Levites were all sanctified together.

12And so they offered the passover for all them of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

And so they offered the passover for all them of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

13And the children of Israel that came out of the captivity did eat, even all they that had separated themselves from the abominations of the people of the land, and sought the Lord.

And the children of Israel that came out of the captivity did eat, even all they that had separated themselves from the abominations of the people of the land, and sought the Lord — fed on the passover, every state that had separated itself from disorder and sought the LORD.

14And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days, making merry before the Lord,

And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days, making merry before the Lord — truth-substance with the ferment purged out, kept the complete cycle in gladness.

15For that he had turned the counsel of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the works of the Lord God of Israel.

For that he had turned the counsel of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the works of the Lord God of Israel — the dominating reasoning-empire's counsel itself turned to strengthen the builders.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.