[Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV] {1} My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, {2} making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; {3} yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, {4} if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, {5} then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

[Ezekiel 33:21-22 ESV] {21} In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been struck down.” {22} Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

[Ezekiel 8:1-4 ESV] {1} In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. {2} Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. {3} He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. {4} And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.

[Ezekiel 9:3 ESV] {3} Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist.

[Ezekiel 10:18-22 ESV] {18} Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. {19} And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. {20} These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. {21} Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands. {22} And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward.

[Ezekiel 11:22-23 ESV] {22} Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. {23} And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city.

[Ezekiel 8:3 ESV] {3} He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

[Ezekiel 8:1-18 ESV] {1} In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. {2} Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. {3} He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. {4} And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley. {5} Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. {6} And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.” {7} And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. {8} Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. {9} And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” {10} So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. {11} And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. {12} Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’” {13} He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.” {14} Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. {15} Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.” {16} And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. {17} Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their nose. {18} Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

[Ezekiel 9:1-11 ESV] {1} Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” {2} And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. {3} Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. {4} And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” {5} And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. {6} Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. {7} Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. {8} And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?” {9} Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ {10} As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.” {11} And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”

[Ezekiel 10:1-22 ESV] {1} Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne. {2} And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in before my eyes. {3} Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. {4} And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. {5} And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. {6} And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. {7} And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. {8} The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings. {9} And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling beryl. {10} And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. {11} When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without turning as they went. {12} And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around–the wheels that the four of them had. {13} As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.” {14} And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. {15} And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the Chebar canal. {16} And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. {17} When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. {18} Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. {19} And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. {20} These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. {21} Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands. {22} And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward.

[Ezekiel 11:1-25 ESV] {1} The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the LORD, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were twenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. {2} And he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; {3} who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ {4} Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.” {5} And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the LORD: So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind. {6} You have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. {7} Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the meat, and this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. {8} You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord GOD. {9} And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you. {10} You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the LORD. {11} This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, {12} and you shall know that I am the LORD. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.” {13} And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?” {14} And the word of the LORD came to me: {15} “Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession.’ {16} Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’ {17} Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ {18} And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. {19} And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, {20} that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. {21} But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.” {22} Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. {23} And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. {24} And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. {25} And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.

[2 Chronicles 36:11-21 ESV] {11} Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. {12} He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. {13} He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. {14} All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem. {15} The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. {16} But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. {17} Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. {18} And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. {19} And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. {20} He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, {21} to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

[Haggai 2:1-9 ESV] {1} In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: {2} “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, {3} ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? {4} Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, {5} according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. {6} For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. {7} And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. {8} The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. {9} The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

[Zechariah 14:16-21 ESV] {16} Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. {17} And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. {18} And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. {19} This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. {20} And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar. {21} And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.

[1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV] {19} Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, {20} for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

[1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV] {14} As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, {15} but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, {16} since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

[Ezra 1:1-5 ESV] {1} In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: {2} “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. {3} Whoever 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 the LORD, the God of Israel–he is the God who is in Jerusalem. {4} And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” {5} Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem.

[Ezra 2:1-70 ESV] {1} Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. {2} They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: {3} the sons of Parosh, 2,172. {4} The sons of Shephatiah, 372. {5} The sons of Arah, 775. {6} The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. {7} The sons of Elam, 1,254. {8} The sons of Zattu, 945. {9} The sons of Zaccai, 760. {10} The sons of Bani, 642. {11} The sons of Bebai, 623. {12} The sons of Azgad, 1,222. {13} The sons of Adonikam, 666. {14} The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. {15} The sons of Adin, 454. {16} The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. {17} The sons of Bezai, 323. {18} The sons of Jorah, 112. {19} The sons of Hashum, 223. {20} The sons of Gibbar, 95. {21} The sons of Bethlehem, 123. {22} The men of Netophah, 56. {23} The men of Anathoth, 128. {24} The sons of Azmaveth, 42. {25} The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. {26} The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. {27} The men of Michmas, 122. {28} The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. {29} The sons of Nebo, 52. {30} The sons of Magbish, 156. {31} The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. {32} The sons of Harim, 320. {33} The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. {34} The sons of Jericho, 345. {35} The sons of Senaah, 3,630. {36} The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. {37} The sons of Immer, 1,052. {38} The sons of Pashhur, 1,247. {39} The sons of Harim, 1,017. {40} The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. {41} The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128. {42} The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139. {43} The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, {44} the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, {45} the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, {46} the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, {47} the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, {48} the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, {49} the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, {50} the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, {51} the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, {52} the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, {53} the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, {54} the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha. {55} The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, {56} the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, {57} the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami. {58} All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392. {59} The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: {60} the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. {61} Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). {62} These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. {63} The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim. {64} The whole assembly together was 42,360, {65} besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers. {66} Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, {67} their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720. {68} Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. {69} According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests’ garments. {70} Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their towns.