Outline

• Events Following Persian Conquest of Babylon ( Ezra 1–6 )

  • The Edict of Cyrus and Preparations to Return (ch. 1 )
  • The ‘Golah List’ (ch. 2 )
  • The Beginning of the Temple Reconstruction under Zerubbabel (ch. 3 )
  • History of Opposition to the Temple (ch. 4 )
  • Clarification of Persian Permission to Rebuild (ch. 5 )
  • Search of Archives, and Completion of the Temple (ch. 6 )

• Description of Events in Career of Ezra the Priest ( chs. 7–10 )

  • Ezra Given Permission to Return to Jerusalem (ch. 7 )
  • The Journey to Jerusalem, Delivery of Royal Funds (ch. 8 )
  • Ezra Discovers the Problem of Mixed Marriage: The Prayer of Confession (ch. 9 )
  • The Mass Divorce of Foreign Wives by Group Covenant (ch. 10 )

• Nehemiah's Memoirs ( Neh 1–8 )

  • The Court Narrative of Nehemiah ( 1:1–2:9 )
  • Reconnaissance and Opposition ( 2:10–20 )
  • Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem ( 3:1–32 )
  • Militarizing the Wall Building (ch. 4 )
  • Nehemiah's Reforms (ch. 5 )
  • Continued Opposition, Internal and External (ch. 6 )
  • The Golah List (ch. 7 ǁ Ezra 2 )

• Displaced Ezra Sections

  • The Study of the Law (ch. 8 )
  • Ezra's Confessional Prayer; Mixed Marriage Crisis (ch. 9 )
  • Crisis Resolved; People's Covenant (ch. 10 )
  • Repopulating Jerusalem (ch. 11 )
  • Processional Dedication of the Wall (ch. 12 )
  • Nehemiah's Second Visit: Further Reforms (ch. 13 )