12
In order that we might inform you in writing who the leaders are, we questioned them and asked them for a list of the names of those who are at their head.
13
They answered us, "We are the servants of the Lord who created the heaven and the earth.
14
The house was built many years ago by a king of Israel who was great and strong, and it was finished.
15
But when our ancestors sinned against the Lord of Israel who is in heaven, and provoked him, he gave them over into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, king of the Chaldeans;
16
and they pulled down the house, and burned it, and carried the people away captive to Babylon.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.