There was a great commotion, ¹  and some experts in the law ²  from the party of the Pharisees stood up ³  and protested strongly, ⁴  “We find nothing wrong ⁵  with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

For though you may have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, because I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

He told the Levites, who instructed all Israel about things consecrated to the Lord, “Place the holy ark in the temple which King Solomon son of David of Israel built. Don’t carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel!

Citizens of Zion, ¹  rejoice! Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done! ²  For he has given to you the early rains ³  as vindication. He has sent ⁴  to you the rains – both the early and the late rains ⁵  as formerly.

“Woe to you, experts in the law ¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ²  of mint, dill, and cumin, ³  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁴  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

They will teach Jacob your ordinances and Israel your law; they will offer incense as a pleasant odor, and a whole offering on your altar.

So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. ¹  He taught them how to worship ²  the Lord.

In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah.

He followed ¹  God during the lifetime of ²  Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed ³  the Lord, God caused him to succeed. ⁴ 

What follows ¹  is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. ²  Ezra was ³  a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the Lord and his statutes over Israel:

You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst.

Guide me into your truth ¹  and teach me. For you are the God who delivers me; on you I rely all day long.

O God, you have taught me since I was young, and I am still declaring ¹  your amazing deeds.

How can you say, “We are wise! We have the law of the Lord”? The truth is, ¹  those who teach it ²  have used their writings to make it say what it does not really mean. ³ 

Your wise men will be put to shame. They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. ¹  Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what wisdom do they really have?

They have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ¹  I tried over and over again ²  to instruct them, but they did not listen and respond to correction. ³ 

Many will be purified, made clean, and refined, but the wicked will go on being wicked. None of the wicked will understand, though the wise will understand.

Leave them! They are blind guides. ¹  If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, ²  both will fall into a pit.”

And Jesus answered him, ¹  “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood ²  did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!

Then ¹  Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus ²  replied, “You have said it yourself.”