Textorah

1 Esdras 8

1
Καὶ μεταγενέστερος τούτων ἐστὶ, βασιλεύοντος Ἀρταξέρξου τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως, προσέβη Ἔσδρας Ἀζαραίου, τοῦ Ζεχρίου, τοῦ Χελκίου, τοῦ Σαλήμου,
And after these things, when Artaxerxes the king of the Persians reigned, came Ezra [the son] of Azariah, the son of Zechrias, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum,
2
τοῦ Σαδδούκου, τοῦ Ἀχιτὼβ, τοῦ Ἀμαρίου, τοῦ Ὀζίου, τοῦ Βοκκὰ, τοῦ Ἀβισαῒ, τοῦ Φινεὲς, τοῦ Ἐλεάζαρ, τοῦ Ἀαρὼν, τοῦ ἱερέως τοῦ πρώτου·
the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest.
3
οὗτος Ἔσδρας ἀνέβη ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος ὡς γραμματεὺς εὐφυὴς ὢν ἐν τῷ Μωυσέως νόμω τῷ ἐκδεδομένῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.
This Ezra went up from Babylon, as a scribe, being very ready in the law of Moses, that was given by the God of Israel.
4
Καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς δόξαν, εὑρόντος χάριν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἀξιώματα αὐτοῦ.
And the king did him honor: for he found grace in his sight in all his requests.
5
Καὶ συνανέβησαν ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ τῶν ἱερέων, καὶ Λευιτῶν, καὶ ἱεροψαλτῶν, καὶ θυρωρῶν, καὶ ἱεροδούλων εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ,
There went up with him also certain of the children of Israel, of the priests, of the Levites, of the holy singers, porters, and ministers of the temple, unto Jerusalem,
6
ἔτους ἑβδόμου βασιλεύοντος Ἀρταξέρξου ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ μηνί· οὗτος ἐνιαυτὸς ἕβδομος τῷ βασιλεῖ· ἐξελθόντες γὰρ ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος τῇ νουμηνίᾳ τοῦ πρώτου μηνὸς, παρεγένοντο εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατὰ τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς εὐοδίαν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπʼ αὐτῷ.
in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, in the fifth month, this was the king’s seventh year; for they went from Babylon in the first day of the first month, and came to Jerusalem, according to the prosperous journey which the Lord gave to him.
7
Ὁ γὰρ Ἔσδρας πολλὴν ἐπιστήμην περιεῖχεν εἰς τὸ μηδὲν παραλιπεῖν τῶν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου Κυρίου καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐντολῶν, διδάξαι πάντα τὸν Ἰσραὴλ δικαιώματα καὶ κρίματα.
For Ezra had very great skill, so that he omitted nothing of the law and commandments of the Lord, but taught all Israel the ordinances and judgments.
8
Προσπεσόντος δὲ τοῦ γραφέντος προστάγματος παρὰ Αρταξέρξου βασιλέως πρὸς Ἔσδραν τὸν ἱερέα καὶ ἀναγνώστην τοῦ νόμου Κυρίου, οὗ ἐστιν ἀντίγραφον τὸ ὑποκείμενον·
Now the copy of the commission, which was written from Artaxerxes the king, and came to Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Lord, is this that followeth;
9
Βασιλεὺς Ἀρταξέρξης Ἔσδρᾳ τῷ ἱερεῖ καὶ ἀναγνώστῃ τοῦ νόμου Κυρίου χαίρειν.
King Artaxerxes unto Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Lord sendeth greeting:
10
Καὶ τὰ φιλάνθρωπα ἐγὼ κρίνας προσέταξα τοὺς βουλομένους ἐκ τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν Ἰουδαίων αἱρετίζοντας, καὶ τῶν ἱερέων καὶ τῶν Λευιτῶν, καὶ τῶνδε ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ βασιλείᾳ, συμπορεύεσθαί σοι εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ.
Having determined to deal graciously, I have given order, that such of the nation of the Jews, and of the priests and Levites, being within our realm, as are willing and desirous, should go with thee unto Jerusalem.
11
Ὅσοι οὖν ἐνθυμοῦνται, συνεξορμάσθωσαν καθάπερ δέδοκται ἐμοί τε, καὶ τοῖς ἑπτὰ φίλοις συμβουλευταῖς,
As many therefore as have a mind thereunto, let them depart with thee, as it hath seemed good both to me and my seven friends the counselors;
12
ὅπως ἐπισκέψωνται τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀκολούθως ᾧ ἔχει ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Κυρίου,
that they may look unto the affairs of Judea and Jerusalem, agreeably to that which is in the law of the Lord;
13
καὶ ἀπενεγκεῖν δῶρα τῷ Κυρίῳ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ἃ ηὐξάμην ἐγώ τε καὶ οἱ φίλοι, εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ· καὶ πᾶν χρυσίον καὶ ἀργύριον ὃ ἐὰν εὑρεθῇ ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας τῷ Κυρίῳ εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ
and carry the gifts unto the Lord of Israel to Jerusalem, which I and my friends have vowed, and all the gold and silver that in the country of Babylon can be found, to the Lord in Jerusalem,
14
σὺν τῷ δεδωρημένῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔθνους εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Κυρίου Θεοῦ αὐτῶν τὸ ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, συναχθῆναι τό, τε χρυσίον καὶ τὸ ἀργύριον εἰς ταύρους καὶ κριοὺς καὶ ἄρνας, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀκόλουθα,
with that also which is given of the people for the temple of the Lord their God at Jerusalem: and that silver and gold may be collected for bullocks, rams, and lambs, and things thereunto appertaining;
15
ὥστε προσενεγκεῖν θυσίας τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τοῦ Κυρίον Θεοῦ αὐτῶν τὸ ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ.
to the end that they may offer sacrifices unto the Lord upon the altar of the Lord their God, which is in Jerusalem.
16
Καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐὰν βούλῃ μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου ποιῆσαι χρυσίῳ καὶ ἀργυρίῳ, ἐπιτέλει κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ σου.
And whatsoever thou and thy brethren will do with the silver and gold, that do, according to the will of thy God.
17
Καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη τοῦ Κυρίου τὰ διδόμενά σοι εἰς τὴν χρείαν τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ σου,
And the holy vessels of the Lord, which are given thee for the use of the temple of thy God, which is in Jerusalem, thou shalt set before thy God in Jerusalem.
18
δώσεις ἐκ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ γαζοφυλακίου.
And whatsoever thing else thou shalt remember for the use of the temple of thy God, thou shalt give it out of the king’s treasury.
19
Κᾀγὼ ἰδοὺ Ἀρταξέρξης βασιλεὺς προσέταξα τοῖς γαζοφύλαξι Συρίας καὶ Φοινίκης, ἵνα ὅσα ἐὰν ἀποστείλῃ Ἔσδρας ὁ ἱερεὺς καὶ ἀναγνώστης τοῦ νόμου τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου, ἐπιμελῶς διδῶσιν αὐτῷ ἕως ἀργυρίου ταλάντων ἑκατὸν,
And I King Artaxerxes have also commanded the keepers of the treasures in Syria and Phoenicia, that whatsoever Ezra the priest and the reader of the law of the most high God shall send for, they should give it him with speed,
20
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἕως πυροῦ κόρων ἑκατὸν, καὶ οἴνου μετρητῶν ἑκατόν·
to the sum of a hundred talents of silver, likewise also of wheat even to a hundred cors, and a hundred pieces of wine, and other things in abundance.
21
καὶ ἄλλα ἐκ πλήθους πάντα κατὰ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμον ἐπιτελεσθήτω ἐπιμελῶς τῷ Θεῷ τῷ ὑψίστῳ, ἕνεκα τοῦ μὴ γενέσθαι ὀργὴν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ.
Let all things be performed after the law of God diligently unto the most high God, that wrath come not upon the kingdom of the king and his sons.
22
Καὶ ὑμῖν δὲ λέγεται ὅπως πᾶσι τοῖς ἱερεῦσι, καὶ τοῖς Λευίταις, καὶ ἱεροψάλταις, καὶ θυρωροῖς, καὶ ἱεροδούλοις, καὶ πραγματικοῖς τοῦ ἱεροῦ τούτου μηδὲ μία φορολογία, μηδὲ ἄλλη ἐπιβουλὴ γίνηται, καὶ μηδένα ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν ἐπιβαλεῖν τι τούτοις.
I command you also, that ye require no tax, nor any other imposition, of any of the priests, or Levites, or holy singers, or porters, or ministers of the temple, or of any that have doings in this temple, and that no man have authority to impose anything upon them.
23
Καὶ σὺ, Ἔσδρα, κατὰ τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀνάδειξον κριτὰς καὶ δικαστὰς, ὅπως δικάζωσιν ἐν ὅλῃ Συρίᾳ καὶ Φοινίκῃ πάντας τοὺς ἐπισταμένους τὸν νόμον τοῦ Θεοῦ σου, καὶ τοὺς μὴ ἐπισταμένους διδάξεις.
And thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of God ordain judges and justices, that they may judge in all Syria and Phoenicia all those that know the law of thy God; and those that know it not thou shalt teach.
24
Καὶ πάντες ὅσοι ἂν παραβαίνωσι τὸν νόμον τοῦ Θεοῦ σου καὶ τὸς βασιλικὸν, ἐπιμελῶς κολασθήσονται, ἐάν τε καὶ θανάτῳ, ἐάν τε καὶ τιμωρίᾳ, ἢ ἀργυρικῇ ζημίᾳ, ἢ ἀπαγωγῇ.
And whosoever shall transgress the law of thy God, and of the king, shall be punished diligently, whether it be by death, or other punishment, by penalty of money, or by imprisonment.
25
Καὶ εἶπεν Ἔσδρας ὁ γραμματεὺς, εὐλογητὸς μόνος Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τῶν πατέρων μου, ὁ δοὺς ταῦτα εἰς τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ βασιλέως, δοξάσαι τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ τὸν ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ,
Then said Ezra the scribe, Blessed be the only Lord God of my fathers, who hath put these things into the heart of the king, to glorify his house that is in Jerusalem:
26
καὶ ἐμὲ ἐτίμησεν ἐναντίον τοὺ βασιλέως, καὶ τῶν συμβουλευόντων, καὶ πάντων τῶν φίλων, καὶ μεγιστάνων αὐτοῦ.
and hath honored me in the sight of the king, and his counselors, and all his friends and nobles.
27
Καὶ ἐγὼ εὐθαρσὴς ἐγενόμην κατὰ τὴν ἀντίλμψιν Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, καὶ συνήγαγον ἄνδρας ἐκ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὥστε συναναβῆναί μοι.
Therefore was I encouraged by the help of the Lord my God, and gathered together men of Israel to go up with me.
28
Καὶ οὗτοι οἱ προηγούμενοι κατὰ τὰς πατριὰς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς μεριδαρχίας, οἱ ἀναβάντες μετʼ ἐμοῦ ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ Ἀρταξέρξου τοῦ βασιλέως.
And these are the chief according to their families and several dignities, that went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes:
29
Ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Φινεὲς, Γηρσών· ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰαθαμάρου, Γαμαλιήλ· ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Λαυὶδ, Λαττοὺς ὁ Σεχενίου·
of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar, Gamael: of the sons of David, Hattush the [son] of Shecaniah:
30
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Φόρος, Ζαχαρίας, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἀπεγράφησαν ἄνδρες ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα·
of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were counted a hundred and fifty men:
31
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Φαὰθ Μωὰβ, Ἐλιαωνίας Ζαραίου, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες διακόσιοι·
of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, [the son] of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred men:
32
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Ζαθόης, Ζεχενίας Ἰεζήλου, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες τριακόσιοι· ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Ἀδὶν, Ὠβὴθ Ἰωνάθου, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες διακόσιοι πεντήκοντα·
of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred men: of the sons of Adin, Obed the son of Jonathan, and with him two hundred and fifty men:
33
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Ἠλὰμ, Ἰεσίαν Γοθολίου, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες ἑβδομήκοντα·
of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah [son] of Gotholiah, and with him seventy men:
34
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Σαφατίου, Ζαραΐας Μιχαήλου, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες ἑβδομήκοντα·
of the sons of Shephatiah, Zeraiah son of Michael, and with him threescore and ten men:
35
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰωὰβ, Ἀβαδίας Ἰεζήλου, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες διακόσιοι δεκαδύο·
of the sons of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and twelve men:
36
Ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Βανίας, Σαλιμὼθ Ἰωσαφίου, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες ἑξήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν·
of the sons of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and threescore men:
37
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Βαβὶ, Ζαχαρίας Βηβαῒ, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες εἰκοσιοκτώ·
of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight men:
38
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Ἀστὰθ, Ἰωάννης Ἀκατὰν, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες ἑκατὸν δέκα·
of the sons of Azgad, Johanan [son of] Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten men:
39
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Ἀδωνικὰμ, οἱ ἔσχατοι· καὶ ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα αὐτῶν· Ἐλιφαλὰ τοῦ Γεουὴλ, καὶ Σαμαίας, καὶ μετʼ αὐτῶν ἄνδρες ἑβδομήκοντα·
of the sons of Adonikam the last, and these are the names of them, Eliphelet, [son] of Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them seventy men:
40
ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Βαγὼ, Οὐθὶ ὁ τοῦ Ἱσταλκούρου, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄνδρες ἑβδομήκοντα.
of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai the son of Istalcurus, and with him seventy men.
41
Καὶ συνήγαγον αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸν λεγόμενον Θερὰν ποταμὸν, καὶ παρενεβάλομεν ἡμέρας τρεῖς αὐτόθι, καὶ κατέμαθον αὐτούς.
And these I gathered together to the river called Theras, where we pitched our tents three days: and then I surveyed them.
42
Καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἱερέων καὶ ἐκ τῶν Λευιτῶν οὐχ εὑρὼν ἐκεῖ,
But when I had found there none of the priests and Levites,
43
ἀπέστειλα πρὸς Ἐλεάζαρον, καὶ Ἱδουῆλον, καὶ Μαιὰ, καὶ Μασμὰν, καὶ Ἀλναθὰν, καὶ Σαμαίαν, καὶ Ἰώριβον, Νάθαν,
then sent I unto Eleazar, and Iduel, and Maea, and Maasmas,
44
Ἐννατὰν, Ζαχαρίαν, καὶ Μοσόλλαμον τοὺς ἡγουμένους καὶ ἐπιοτήμονας,
and Elnathan, and Shemaiah, and Jarib, and Nathan, Elnathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, principal men and learned.
45
καὶ εἶπα αὐτοῖς ἐλθεῖν πρὸς Λοδδαῖον τὸν ἡγούμενον τὸν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου,
And I bade them that they should go unto Iddo the captain, who was in the place of the treasury:
46
ἐντειλάμενος αὐτοῖς διαλεχθῆναι Λοδδαίῳ, καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ γαζοφύλαξιν, ἀποστεῖλαι ἡμῖν τοὺν ἱερατεύσοντας ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν·
and commanded them that they should speak unto Iddo, and to his brethren, and to the treasurers in that place, to send us such men as might execute the priests’ office in the house of the Lord.
47
Καὶ ἤγαγον ἡμῖν κατὰ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ἄνδρας ἐπιστήμονας τῶν υἱῶν Μοολὶ τοῦ Λευὶ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, Ἀσεβηβίαν, καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ὄντας δέκα καὶ ὀκτώ·
And by the mighty hand of our Lord they brought unto us skillful men of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, Sherebiah, and his sons, and his brethren, who were eighteen.
48
καὶ Ἀσεβίαν, καὶ Ἄννουον, καὶ Ὠσαίαν ἀδελφὸν ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Χανουναίου, καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν εἴκοσι ἄνδρες·
And Hashabiah, and Annunus, and Jeshaiah his brother, of the sons of Hananiah, and their sons, were twenty men.
49
καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἱεροδούλων ὧν ἔδωκε Δαυὶδ, καὶ οἱ ἡγούμενοι εἰς τὴν ἐργασίαν τῶν Λευιτῶν, ἱεροδούλους διακοσίους καὶ εἴκοσι· πάντων ἐσημάνθη ἡ ὀνοματογραφία.
And of the servants of the temple whom David had ordained, and the principal men for the service of the Levites to wit, the servants of the temple, two hundred and twenty, the catalog of whose names were shown.
50
Καὶ ηὐξάμην ἐκεῖ νηστείαν τοῖς νεανίσκοις ἔναντι Κυρίου ἡμῶν, ζητῆσαι παρʼ αὐτοῦ εὐοδίαν ἡμῖν τε καὶ τοῖς συνοῦσιν ἡμῖν, τέκνοις ἡμῶν, καὶ κτήνεσιν.
And there I vowed a fast unto the young men before our Lord, to desire of him a prosperous journey both for us and them that were with us, for our children, and for the cattle:
51
Ἐνετράπην γὰρ αἰτῆσαι τὸν βασιλέα, πεζούς τε καὶ ἱππεῖς, και προπομπὴν ἕνεκεν ἀσφαλείας τῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντιουμένους ἡμῖν.
for I was ashamed to ask the king footmen, and horsemen, and conduct for safeguard against our adversaries.
52
Εἴπαμεν γὰρ τῷ βασιλεῖ, ὅτι ἡ ἰσχὺς τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ἔσται μετὰ τῶν ἐπιζητούντων αὐτὸν εἰς πᾶσαν ἐπανόρθωσιν.
For we had said unto the king, that the power of the Lord our God should be with them that seek him, to support them in all ways.
53
Καὶ πάλιν ἐδεήθημεν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν πάντα ταῦτα, καὶ ἐτύχομεν εὐιλάτου.
And again we besought our Lord as touching these things, and found him favorable unto us.
54
Καὶ ἐχώρισα τῶν φυλάρχων τῶν ἱερέων ἄνδρας δεκαδύο, καὶ Ἐσερεβίαν καὶ Σαμίαν, καὶ μετʼ αὐτῶν ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτῶν ἄνδρας δώδεκα.
Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and ten men of their brethren with them:
55
Καὶ ἔστησα αὐτοῖς τὸ ἀργύριον, καὶ τὸ χρυσίον, καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν, ἃ ἐδωρήσατο ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ οἱ σύμβουλοι αὐτοὺ, καὶ οἱ μεγιστᾶνες, καὶ πᾶς Ἰσραήλ.
and I weighed them the gold, and the silver, and the holy vessels of the house of our Lord, which the king, and his council, and the princes, and all Israel, had given.
56
Καὶ στήσας παρέδωκα αὑτοῖς ἀργυρίου τάλαντα ἑξακόσια πεντήκοντα, καὶ σκεύη ἀργυρᾶ ταλάντων ἑκατὸν, καὶ χρυσίου τάλαντα ἑκατὸν,
And when I had weighed it, I delivered unto them six hundred and sixty talents of silver, and silver vessels of a hundred talents, and a hundred talents of gold,
57
καὶ χρυσώματα εἴκοσι, καὶ σκεύη χάλκεα ἀπὸ χρηστοῦ χαλκοῦ στίλβοντα χρυσοειδῆ σκεύη δώδεκα.
and twenty golden vessels, and twelve vessels of brass, [even] of fine brass, glittering like gold.
58
Καὶ εἶπα αὐτοῖς καὶ ὑμεῖς ἅγιοι ἐστὲ τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἅγια, καὶ τὸ χρυσίον, καὶ τὸ ἀργύριον, εὐχὴ τῷ Κυρίῳ, Κυρίῳ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν.
And I said unto them, Both ye are holy unto the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the gold and the silver is a vow unto the Lord, the Lord of our fathers.
59
Ἀγρυπνεῖτε, καὶ φυλάσσετε ἕως τοῦ παραδοῦναι ὑμᾶς αὐτὰ τοῖς φυλάρχοις τῶν ἱερέων καὶ τῶν Λευιτῶν, καὶ τοῖς ἡγουμένοις τὼν πατριῶν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐν Ἰερουσαλὴμ, ἐν τοῖς παστοφορίοις τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν.
Watch ye, and keep them till ye deliver them to the chief of the priests and Levites, and to the principal men of the families of Israel, in Jerusalem, into the chambers of the house of our God.
60
Καὶ οἱ παραλαβόντες οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ οἱ Λευῖται τὸ ἀργύριον, καὶ τὸ χρυσίον, καὶ τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, εἰσήνεγκαν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Κυρίου.
So the priests and the Levites, who had received the silver and the gold and the vessels that were in Jerusalem, brought them into the temple of the Lord.
61
Καὶ ἀναζεύξαντες ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ Θερὰ τῇ δωδεκάτῃ τοῦ πρώτου μηνὸς, ἕως εἰσήλθομεν εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατὰ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν τὴν ἐφʼ ἡμῖν· καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς εἰσόδου ἀπὸ παντὸς ἐχθροῦ, καὶ ἦλθομεν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ.
And from the river Theras we departed the twelfth day of the first month, and came to Jerusalem by the mighty hand of our Lord, which was with us: and from the beginning of our journey the Lord delivered us from every enemy, and [so] we came to Jerusalem.
62
Καὶ γενομένης αὐτόθι ἡμέρας τρίτης, τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τετάρτῃ σταθὲν τὸ ἀργύριον καὶ τὸ χρυσίον παρεδόθη ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Μαρμωθὶ Οὐρία ἱερεῖ.
And when we had been there three days, the gold and silver that was weighed was delivered in the house of our Lord on the fourth day unto Meremoth the priest the son of Uriah.
63
Καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ Ἐλεάζαρ ὁ τοῦ Φινεὲς, καὶ ἦσαν μετʼ αὐτοῦ Ἰωσαβδὸς Ἰησοῦ, καὶ Μωὲθ Σαβάννου· οἱ δὲ Λευῖται, πρὸς ἀριθμὸν καὶ ὁλκὴν ἅπαντα.
And with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Moeth the son of Sabban, Levites: all [was delivered them] by number and weight.
64
Καὶ ἐγράφη πᾶσα ἡ ὁλκὴ αὐτῶν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ.
And all the weight of them was written up the same hour.
65
Οἱ δὲ παραγενόμενοι ἐκ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας προσήνεγκαν θυσίας τῷ Θεῷ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ Κυρίῳ, ταύρους δώδεκα ὑπὲρ παντὸς Ἰσραὴλ,
Moreover they that were come out of the captivity offered sacrifice unto the Lord God of Israel, [even] twelve bullocks for all Israel, fourscore and sixteen rams,
66
κριοὺς ἐνενηκονταὲξ, ἄρνας ἑβδομηκονταδύο, τράγους ὑπὲρ σωτηρίου δώδεκα, ἅπαντα θυσίαν τῷ Κυρίῳ.
threescore and twelve lambs, goats for a peace offering, twelve; all of them a sacrifice to the Lord.
67
Καὶ ἀπέδωκαν τὰ προστάγματα τοῦ βασιλέως τοῖς βασιλικοῖς οἰκονόμοις καὶ τοῖς ἐπάρχοις κοίλης Συρίας καὶ Φοινίκης, καὶ ἐδόξασαν τὸ ἔθνος, καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Κυρίου.
And they delivered the king’s commandments unto the king’s stewards, and to the governors of Coelesyria and Phoenicia; and they honored the people and the temple of God.
68
Καὶ τούτων τελεσθέντων, προσήλθοσάν μοι οἱ ἡγούμενοι, λέγοντες,
Now when these things were done, the rulers came unto me, and said,
69
οὐκ ἐχώρισαν τὸ ἔθνος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ οἱ Λευῖται τὰ ἀλλογενῆ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς καὶ τὰς ἀκαθαρσίας αὐτῶν, ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν Χαναναίων, καὶ Χετταίων, καὶ Φερεζαίων, καὶ Ἰεβουσαίων, καὶ Μωαβιτῶν, καὶ Αἰγυπτίων, καὶ Ἰδουμαίων.
The nation of Israel, the princes, the priests and the Levites, have not put away from them the strange people of the land, nor their pollutions from the Gentiles, [to wit], the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and the Moabites, Egyptians, and Idumeans.
70
Συνῴκησαν γὰρ μετὰ τῶν θυγατέρων αὐτῶν καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπεμίγη τὸ σπέρμα τὸ ἅγιον εἰς τὰ ἀλλογενῆ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς, καὶ μετεῖχον οἱ προηγούμενοι καὶ οἱ μεγιστᾶνες τῆς ἀνομίας ταύτης ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ πράγματος.
For both they and their sons have married with their daughters, and the holy seed is mixed with the strange people of the land; and from the beginning of this matter the rulers and the great men have been partakers of this iniquity.
71
Καὶ ἅμα τῷ ἀκοῦσαί με ταῦτα, διέῤῥηξα τὰ ἱμάτια καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν ἐσθῆτα, καὶ κατέτιλα τοῦ τριχώματος τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τοῦ πώγωνος, καὶ ἐκάθισα σύννους καὶ περίλυπος.
And as soon as I had heard these things, I rent my clothes, and the holy garment, and pulled off the hair from off my head and beard, and sat me down sad and very heavy.
72
Καὶ ἐπισυνήχθησαν πρὸς μὲ ὅσοι ποτὲ ἐπεκινοῦντο ἐπὶ τῷ ῥήματι Κυρίου Θεοῦ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ἐμοῦ πενθοῦντος ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνομίᾳ· καὶ ἐκαθήμην περίλυπος ἕως τῆς δειλινῆς θυσίας.
So all they that were then moved at the word of the Lord God of Israel assembled unto me, while I mourned for the iniquity: but I sat still full of heaviness until the evening sacrifice.
73
Καὶ ἐξεγερθεὶς ἐκ τῆς νηστείας διεῤῥηγμένα ἔχων τὰ ἱμάτια καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν ἐσθῆτα, κάμψας τὰ γόνατα, καὶ ἐκτείνας τὰς χεῖρας πρὸς τὸν Κύριον·
Then rising up from the fast with my clothes and the holy garment rent, and bowing my knees, and stretching forth my hands unto the Lord,
74
ἔλεγον, Κύριε, ᾔσχυμμαι καὶ ἐντέτραμμαι κατὰ πρόσωπόν σου.
I said, O Lord, I am confounded and ashamed before thy face;
75
Αἱ γὰρ ἁμαρτίαι ἡμῶν ἐπλεόνασαν ὑπὲρ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἡμῶν, καὶ αἱ ἄγνοιαι ἡμῶν ὑπερήνεγκαν ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ,
for our sins are multiplied above our heads, and our ignorances have reached up unto heaven.
76
ἔτι ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐσμὲν ἐν μεγάλῃ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης.
For ever since the time of our fathers we [have been] and are in great sin, even unto this day.
77
Καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν παρεδόθημεν σὺν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἡμῶν, καὶ σὺν τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἡμῶν, καὶ σὺν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἡμῶν, τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τῆς γῆς εἰς ῥομφαίαν καὶ αἰχμαλωσίαν καὶ προνομὴν μετὰ αἰσχύνης μέχρι τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας.
And for our sins and our fathers’ we with our brethren and our kings and our priests were given up unto the kings of the earth, to the sword, and to captivity, and for a prey with shame, unto this day.
78
Καὶ νῦν κατὰ πόσον τι ἐγενήθη ἡμῖν ἔλεος παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου Κυρίου, καταλειφθῆναι ἡμῖν ῥίζαν καὶ ὄνομα ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἁγιάσματός σου,
And now in some measure hath mercy been shown unto us from thee, O Lord, that there should be left us a root and a name in the place of thy sanctuary;
79
καὶ τοῦ ἀνακαλύψαι φωστῆρα ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, δοῦναι ἡμῖν τροφὴν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς δουλείας ἡμῶν;
and to discover unto us a light in the house of the Lord our God, and to give us food in the time of our servitude.
80
Καὶ ἐν τῷ δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἐγκατελείφθημεν ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς ἐν χάριτι ἐνώπιον τῶν βασιλέων Περσῶν,
Yea, when we were in bondage, we were not forsaken of our Lord; but he made us favored before the kings of Persia, so that they gave us food;
81
δοῦναι ἡμῖν τροφὴν, καὶ δοξάσαι τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐγεῖραι τὴν ἔρημον Σιὼν, δοῦναι ἡμῖν στερέωμα ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ καὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ.
yea, and honored the temple of our Lord, and raised up the desolate Zion, so that they have given us a sure abiding in Jewry and Jerusalem.
82
Καὶ νῦν τί ἐροῦμεν, Κύριε, ἔχοντες ταῦτα; παρέβημεν γὰρ τὰ προστάγματά σου, ἃ ἔδωκας ἐν χειρὶ τῶν παίδων σου τῶν προφητῶν,
And now, O Lord, what shall we say, having these things? for we have transgressed thy commandments, which thou gavest by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying,
83
λέγων, ὅτι ἡ γῆ, εἰς ἣν εἰσέρχεσθε κληρονομῆσαι, ἔστι γῆ μεμολυσμένη μολυσμῷ τῶν ἀλλογενῶν τῆς γῆς, καὶ τῆς ἀκαθαρσίας αὐτῶν ἐνέπλησαν αὐτήν.
That the land, which ye enter into to possess as a heritage, is a land polluted with the pollutions of the strangers of the land, and they have filled it with their uncleanness.
84
Καὶ νῦν τὰς θυγατέρας ὑμῶν μὴ συνοικήσητε τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας αὐτῶν μὴ λάβητε τοῖς υἱοῖς ὑμῶν,
Therefore now shall ye not join your daughters unto their sons, neither shall ye take their daughters unto your sons.
85
καὶ οὐ ζητήσετε εἰρηνεῦσαι τὰ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον, ἵνα ἰσχύσαντες φάγητε τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς, καὶ κατακληρονομήσητε τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν ἕως αἰῶνος.
Moreover ye shall never seek to have peace with them, that ye may be strong, and eat the good things of the land, and that ye may leave the inheritance of the land unto your children for evermore.
86
Καὶ τὰ συμβαίνοντα πάντα ἡμῖν γίνεται διὰ τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν τὰ πονηρὰ, καὶ τὰς μεγάλας ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν·
And all that is befallen is done unto us for our wicked works and great sins: for thou, O Lord, didst make our sins light,
87
σὺ γὰρ Κύριε ὁ κουφίσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, ἔδωκας ἡμῖν τοιαύτην ῥίζαν· πάλιν ἀνεκάμψαμεν παραβῆναι τὸν νόμον σου εἰς τὸ ἐπιμιγῆναι τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ τῶν ἐθνῶν τῆς γῆς.
and didst give unto us such a root: but we have turned back again to transgress thy law, and to mingle ourselves with the uncleanness of the nations of the land.
88
Οὐχὶ ὠργίσθης ἡμῖν ἀπολέσαι ἡμᾶς, ἕως τοῦ μὴ καταλιπεῖν ῥίζαν καὶ σπέρμα καὶ ὄνομα ἡμῶν;
Mightest not thou be angry with us to destroy us, till thou hadst left us neither root, seed, nor name?
89
Κύριε τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ἀληθινὸς εἶ· κατελείφθημεν γὰρ ῥίζα ἐν τῇ σήμερον.
O Lord of Israel, thou art true: for we are left a root this day.
90
Ἰδοὺ νῦν ἐσμὲν ἐνώπιόν σου ἐν ταῖς ἀνομίαις ἡμῶν· οὐ γὰρ ἐστι στῆναι ἔτι ἔμπροσθέν σου ἐπὶ τούτοις.
Behold, now are we before thee in our iniquities, for we cannot stand any longer by reason of these things before thee.
91
Καὶ ὅτε προσευχόμενος Ἔσδρας ἀνθωμολογεῖτο κλαίων χαμαιπετὴς ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ ἱεροῦ, ἐπισυνήχθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὄχλος πολὺς σφόδρα, ἄνδρες, καὶ γυναῖκες, καὶ νεανίαι· κλαυθμὸς γὰρ ἦν μέγας ἐν τῷ πλήθει.
And as Ezra in his prayer made his confession, weeping, and lying flat upon the ground before the temple, there gathered unto him from Jerusalem a very great multitude of men and women and children: for there was great weeping among the multitude.
92
Καὶ φωνήσας Ἰεχονίας Ἰεήλου τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, εἶπεν, Ἔσδρα, ἡμεῖς ἡμάρτομεν εἰς τὸν Κύριον· συνῳκίσαμεν γυναῖκας ἀλλογενεῖς ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν τῆς γῆς· καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ἐπάνω πᾶς Ἰσραήλ.
Then Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the children of Israel, called out and said, O Ezra, we have sinned against the Lord; we have married strange women of the nations of the land, and now is all Israel aloft.
93
Ἐν τούτῳ γινέσθω ἡμῖν ὁρκωμοσία πρὸς τὸν Κύριον, ἐκβαλεῖν πάσας τὰς γυναῖκας ἡμῶν τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἀλλογενῶν σὺν τοῖς τέκνοις αὐτῶν,
Let us make an oath to the Lord, that we will put away all our wives, which we have taken of the heathen, with their children,
94
ὡς ἐκρίθη σοι, καὶ ὅσοι πειθαρχοῦσι τοῦ νόμου Κυρίου.
like as thou hast decreed, and as many as do obey the law of the Lord.
95
Ἀναστὰς ἐπιτέλει· πρὸς σὲ γὰρ τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ ἡμεῖς μετὰ σοῦ ἰσχὺν ποιεῖν.
Arise, and put into execution: for to thee doth this matter appertain, and we will be with thee: do valiantly.
96
Καὶ ἀναστὰς Ἔσδρας ὥρκισε τοὺς φυλάρχους τῶν ἱερέων καὶ Λευιτῶν παντὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ποιῆσαι κατὰ ταῦτα· καὶ ὤμοσαν.
So Ezra arose, and took an oath of the chief of the priests and Levites of all Israel to do after these things; and [so] they swore.

How it works

A parallel reader for the Hebrew Bible and its oldest witnesses: the Masoretic text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint, each with an English translation where one is available.

Reading a chapter

Choose a book and chapter at the top, or type a reference into Go to (Isa 53:11, 1 Sam 3, sam 3:4, ii kgs 2, ben sira 51). Book names can be abbreviated; a name shared by numbered books (sam, kings, chr, macc) opens the first of them unless you add the number. The arrow keys move between chapters, and the address bar keeps a link to the verse you clicked, so you can bookmark or share a place.

Each row is one verse. Rows follow the Masoretic verse numbering, so the Hebrew, JPS and Samaritan columns line up exactly. The Septuagint is numbered differently in many places (Psalms, Jeremiah, Exodus 35–40, parts of Kings, Proverbs, Daniel, and dozens of chapter boundaries). Its verses are placed against their Masoretic counterparts, and a small tag such as 50:3 shows the Septuagint's own number when it differs. Greek verses that have no Masoretic counterpart (for example the Prayer of Azariah in Daniel 3) appear in reading order as separate rows marked LXX.

Columns

The chips at the top switch columns on and off. Drag a chip (or a column heading) to reorder; with a chip focused, the ← → keys move it. Your choice is remembered. The Samaritan columns appear only in Genesis–Deuteronomy; the scrolls column appears wherever a manuscript survives, including Ben Sira. Columns marked † are licensed for non-commercial use only.

Words: lexicon and concordance

Hover over any Hebrew word (Masoretic, Samaritan or scroll) or any Greek word to see its dictionary form, Strong's number, a short gloss and its grammar. Click the word to open the concordance on the right: the full lexicon entry, then every occurrence, grouped by book — for Hebrew, separately for the Masoretic text, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the scrolls (with the manuscript named). Click a reference to go there; every form of the word in the chapter is highlighted. You can also type a word or a Strong's number into Lexicon at the top.

In the Masoretic text, a Ketiv (the written form, unpointed) is shown in grey immediately before its Qere (the form read aloud); both carry the Qere's dictionary entry.

Variants

The Samaritan Pentateuch and every scroll are compared word by word with the Masoretic text of the same verse:

In the scrolls, letters in brackets are a modern editor's reconstruction and are never counted as variants; letters with a dotted overline are uncertain; ◦ is a trace of an unreadable letter. Manuscripts written in paleo-Hebrew script, and divine names that square-script scrolls write in paleo-Hebrew, are shown in paleo-Hebrew letters (switchable under Display). Hover a manuscript to see its edition. Display → Dead Sea Scrolls can hide the manuscripts that agree with the Masoretic text, or strip the reconstructions to show only what survives.

The comparison is automatic. It aligns words by spelling, so a transposition or a long rewritten passage can be marked imperfectly, and the spelling rule cannot tell a suffix from a vowel letter. Treat the colours as a finding aid and check a critical edition before building an argument on a reading.

Books outside the Hebrew Bible

Besides the Septuagint-only books, the book list has 1 Enoch and Jubilees (“Other ancient books”), shown in R. H. Charles's English with the Qumran copies beside them, and Psalms has a chapter 151. Their scroll copies — like those of Tobit and Ben Sira — have no verse numbers in the data: each fragment is placed by its published identification, and its lines are spread over those verses, so treat the exact verse boundaries as approximate. Aramaic copies (Tobit 4Q196–199 and all of Enoch) are marked “Aramaic” and have no word lookups.

Rabbinic citations

The small ❝ under a verse number opens the passages of rabbinic literature that cite that verse — Mishnah, Tosefta, both Talmuds, Midrash, Targum and Kabbalah (and, if you tick the box, later halakhah, liturgy and thought) — fetched live from Sefaria, so it needs an internet connection. Each passage is listed with Sefaria's date for the work it comes from and a link to read it there. Sefaria's links include allusions and discussions as well as quotations; those it classes as quotations are marked. It works for the Hebrew Bible, Ben Sira (by Kahana's numbering, e.g. the Talmud's quotations of Ben Sira), Tobit and Jubilees. For 1 Enoch, which the rabbis do not quote, it lists instead the Zohar's passages about a “Book of Enoch”.

How the Septuagint is aligned

Each Greek verse is placed by combining three things: the standard table of Septuagint–Masoretic verse correspondences (SIL's lxx.vrs), the table of Masoretic–English numbering differences, and a comparison of the English of Brenton's Septuagint with the JPS English, which confirms each pairing and catches displaced verses. Where no Masoretic verse is similar enough, the Greek verse stands on its own row.

The Greek word data

No openly licensed word-by-word analysis of Brenton's Greek exists, so each Greek word is matched to the most frequent analysis of the same form in the openly licensed Swete Septuagint (Morpheus parser), then to a lexicon entry. About 95% of words are identified. Parses of ambiguous forms (e.g. αὐτοῦ, τοῦ) can be wrong; the card says "automatic parse" as a reminder.

About the texts

What each column is, where it comes from, and what to keep in mind when reading it.

Masoretic Text — Westminster Leningrad Codex

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew Bible as transmitted by the Masoretes, scribal scholars active in Tiberias and elsewhere roughly from the 7th to the 10th century, who fixed its vowel points, accents and marginal notes (the Masorah) around a consonantal text that was already essentially stable by the 1st–2nd century CE. The Leningrad Codex (St Petersburg, Firkovich I B 19 A), copied in 1008/1009 CE in the Ben Asher tradition, is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible; the slightly older Aleppo Codex lost most of the Torah in 1947. It is the base of the standard critical editions (BHK, BHS, BHQ).

The Westminster Leningrad Codex is the public-domain digital transcription of it maintained by the J. Alan Groves Center at Westminster Theological Seminary. In this edition a Ketiv appears as its own unpointed word before the pointed Qere.

JPS 1917 — The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text

The first English Bible translation produced by a committee of Jewish scholars for the Jewish Publication Society of America, under Max L. Margolis as editor-in-chief, published in 1917. Its language deliberately follows the cadence of the King James and Revised Versions, but its renderings follow the Masoretic text and Jewish exegetical tradition, and it keeps the Hebrew chapter and verse numbering. It is in the public domain; its successor, the New JPS (Tanakh, 1985), is not. The electronic edition used here writes the divine names as “HaShem” and “G-d”.

Septuagint — Brenton's Greek text and the Updated Brenton English

The Septuagint is the Jewish translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek. The Torah was translated in Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE (the Letter of Aristeas tells the legend of 72 translators under Ptolemy II); the other books followed over the next two centuries. Because it was made from Hebrew manuscripts older than the Masoretic text, it often preserves a different Hebrew text: Jeremiah is about one-seventh shorter and differently ordered (a shorter Hebrew text of this type survives at Qumran in 4QJerb,d), Job is about one-sixth shorter, and Esther and Daniel have long additions. It was the Bible of Philo, Josephus and the New Testament writers, and became the Old Testament of the Greek church, which in turn led Jewish translators (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) to produce closer revisions.

Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton published an English translation in 1844 and a Greek–English edition in 1851. His Greek is essentially the Sixtine (Roman) edition of 1587, which follows the 4th-century Codex Vaticanus. It is older and less critical than the modern editions of Rahlfs (1935) and Göttingen, which are under copyright. The English column is the Updated Brenton (Adam Boyd, 2020), Brenton's translation with modernised spelling and wording, dedicated to the public domain.

Samaritan Pentateuch †

The Torah as preserved by the Samaritan community of Mount Gerizim (Nablus), written in the Samaritan script, a descendant of the paleo-Hebrew alphabet. It differs from the Masoretic text in about 6,000 places, most of them spelling or grammar; in about 1,900 of them it agrees with the Septuagint. Some readings are distinctively Samaritan, above all the commandment to build an altar on Mount Gerizim added after the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21) and “Gerizim” for “Ebal” in Deut 27:4. Many others — harmonising expansions that copy one passage into its parallel — are shared with “pre-Samaritan” Qumran manuscripts such as 4QpaleoExodm and 4QNumb, showing that the text type is older than the Samaritan schism.

European scholars learned of it in 1616, when Pietro della Valle brought a manuscript from Damascus; it was printed in the Paris (1645) and London (1657) Polyglots, collated by Benjamin Kennicott (1776–80) and edited critically by August von Gall (1914–18). The Hebrew here is Aleksandr Sigalov's digital text, based on Kennicott and checked against von Gall; the English is Sigalov's adaptation of the King James Version to the Samaritan readings. For modern scholarship see Abraham Tal's edition of MS Shechem 6 and Stefan Schorch's critical editio maior.

Dead Sea Scrolls and other Judean Desert manuscripts †

Between 1947 and 1956 the remains of about 950 manuscripts were found in eleven caves near Khirbet Qumran. Some 230 are biblical — every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented, from tiny fragments to the complete Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) — dating from about 250 BCE to 68 CE. They are a thousand years older than the Leningrad Codex. Most are close to the ancestor of the Masoretic text (“proto-Masoretic”), but others agree with the Septuagint (4QJerb, 4QSama in places), with the Samaritan text type, or with neither — evidence that several forms of the text circulated side by side before the Masoretic text prevailed.

Manuscripts from other sites fill out the picture: Masada (before its fall in 73/74 CE; excavated by Yigael Yadin, 1963–65) and the Bar Kokhba refuges of Wadi Murabba'at and Naḥal Ḥever (132–135 CE), whose biblical texts are already virtually identical with the Masoretic text, as well as Naḥal Ṣe'elim, Wadi Sdeir and Naḥal Arugot. The official publication is the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert series (Oxford, 1955–2010).

The transcriptions here are those of Martin G. Abegg Jr., James E. Bowley and Edward M. Cook, as converted by the Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer (ETCBC). Each manuscript is labelled with its siglum (e.g. 4QIsad), its DJD number, its find-site and the column or fragment and line. Besides the biblical manuscripts, the copies of Ben Sira, Tobit, 1 Enoch, Jubilees and Psalm 151 are shown under those books. Not every manuscript is in the dataset — notably the Greek scrolls (such as the Greek Minor Prophets from Naḥal Ḥever) are absent, and the Masada Ben Sira scroll is added separately (see Ben Sira).

Ben Sira

The Wisdom of Yeshua ben Eleazar ben Sira, composed in Hebrew in Jerusalem around 190–180 BCE and translated into Greek by his grandson in Egypt after 132 BCE (his prologue explains the difficulty of rendering Hebrew into Greek). It belongs to the Septuagint and to the Catholic and Orthodox canons (Latin Ecclesiasticus) but not to the Jewish one, although the Talmud and midrash quote it. Its Hebrew text was lost to the West until 1896, when Solomon Schechter, Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson identified medieval copies in the Cairo Genizah; ancient Hebrew copies then emerged at Qumran and Masada.

About two-thirds of the Hebrew is now known, from six medieval Genizah manuscripts (A–F, 10th–12th century) and three ancient ones: 2QSir (2Q18; Sir 6:14–15, 20–32), the acrostic of Sir 51:13–20, 30 in the Psalms Scroll 11QPsa (columns 21–22), and the Masada scroll (Mas1h), found by Yigael Yadin in 1964 in a casemate room of the fortress and published in 1965: seven columns with Sir 39:27–44:17, copied in the early 1st century BCE, little more than a century after the author. Its agreement with Genizah manuscript B showed that the medieval copies descend from the ancient Hebrew rather than from a translation back from Greek or Syriac.

Here the book is shown in Brenton's Greek and English. The Hebrew column is the Kahana edition, as transcribed on Hebrew Wikisource and distributed by Sefaria (CC BY-SA): a running text built on the Genizah manuscripts, in which words in [brackets] are Kahana's restorations; chapters with no surviving Hebrew are empty. Kahana numbers the verses in the Hebrew order — in the Greek, two blocks of chapters 30–36 are transposed — so his verses have been matched to Brenton's by content for this site, with his own number shown as “Heb.” where it differs. The scrolls column has the three ancient witnesses; the Masada text is Eric Reymond's transcription from bensira.org. Their placement was made for this site by matching the text; there is no Masoretic text to compare them with, so no variants are marked.

Psalm 151

The Septuagint Psalter ends with a short psalm “outside the number”, in which David recalls tending his father's sheep, his anointing and his victory over Goliath. It belongs to the Greek, Syriac and Ethiopic Bibles but not to the Hebrew one, and was long thought to have been composed in Greek — until the Psalms Scroll from Qumran Cave 11 (11QPsa, published by James Sanders in 1965) turned out to contain a longer Hebrew original in its 28th column, as two poems (151A on David's music and anointing, 151B, broken off, on Goliath). The Greek is a condensed translation of them. The psalm is shown as chapter 151 of Psalms, with the scroll's lines under the Greek verses they correspond to.

Tobit

A Jewish novella of the Eastern diaspora (probably 3rd–2nd century BCE): the pious exile Tobit, blinded in Nineveh, sends his son Tobias to recover money in Media, guided by the angel Raphael in disguise; on the way Tobias marries Sarah and drives off the demon Asmodeus. It is in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Orthodox canons. It survives in two Greek forms — a shorter one (Codices Vaticanus and Alexandrinus, printed by Brenton) and a longer one (Codex Sinaiticus) — and the Qumran copies, four in Aramaic (4Q196–199) and one in Hebrew (4Q200), published by Joseph Fitzmyer in 1995, side with the longer form, which is now generally taken as nearer the original. Their verse placement here follows Fitzmyer's identifications.

1 Enoch

A collection of five works ascribed to Enoch, the seventh from Adam who “walked with God” (Gen 5:24): the Book of the Watchers (ch. 1–36, 3rd century BCE), on the angels who descended to the daughters of men; the Parables (37–71); the Astronomical Book (72–82); the Dream Visions (83–90), with the “Animal Apocalypse” of Israel's history; and the Epistle of Enoch (91–108). It is quoted in the Letter of Jude (1:14–15) and is canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose Ge'ez version is the only complete text; Greek survives for about a third. Józef Milik published the Aramaic fragments from Qumran Cave 4 in 1976: eleven copies, covering every part except the Parables, the oldest from around 200 BCE. The English is R. H. Charles's 1917 translation from the Ethiopic (public domain). The Astronomical scrolls (4Q208–211) contain a much longer calendar than the Ethiopic; only their few passages that match chapters 76–82 are placed.

Jubilees

A retelling of Genesis and Exodus 1–14 as revealed to Moses on Sinai by an “angel of the presence”, dated by a calendar of 49-year jubilees and a 364-day solar year (mid-2nd century BCE). Like 1 Enoch it is canonical only in the Ethiopian church, whose Ge'ez version is the only complete text; parts survive in Latin, Syriac and Greek quotations. Fragments of about fifteen Hebrew copies were found at Qumran, more than of most biblical books, and are published in DJD 13 (VanderKam and Milik, 1994) and DJD 23. The English is R. H. Charles's 1917 translation (public domain).

Lexicon and concordance data

Hebrew words carry the analysis of STEPBible's Translators Amalgamated Hebrew OT (Tyndale House, Cambridge): extended Strong's numbers — James Strong's 1890 numbering, subdivided to follow the Brown–Driver–Briggs lexicon (1906) — with morphology from the ETCBC and an abridged BDB for definitions. Samaritan and scroll words take the analysis of the Masoretic word they correspond to, or, where they differ, of the same written form elsewhere in the Masoretic text. Greek words are matched through the Swete Septuagint and the Morpheus parser to STEPBible's Greek lexicon, which draws on Abbott-Smith (1922) and Liddell–Scott–Jones.

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