Ezra 7:14-16

7:14 You are authorized ¹  by the king and his seven advisers to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your possession, ²  7:15 and to bring silver and gold which the king and his advisers have freely contributed to the God of Israel, who resides in Jerusalem, 7:16 along with all the silver and gold that you may collect ³  throughout all the province of Babylon and the contributions of the people and the priests for the temple of their God which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 8:26-30

8:26 I weighed out to them ⁴  650 talents of silver, silver vessels worth 100 talents, ⁵  100 talents of gold, 8:27 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two exquisite vessels of gleaming bronze, as valuable as gold. 8:28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, just as these vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. 8:29 Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ⁶  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

8:30 Then the priests and the Levites took charge of ⁷  the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

Isaiah 66:20

66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen ⁸  from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them ⁹  on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels ¹⁰  to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers.

Acts 24:17

24:17 After several years ¹¹  I came to bring to my people gifts for the poor ¹²  and to present offerings, ¹³ 

Romans 15:25-26

15:25 But now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 15:26 For Macedonia and Achaia are pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

¹ tn Aram “sent.”

² tn Aram “in your hand.”

³ tn Aram “find.”

⁴ tn Heb “upon their hand.”

⁵ tn Possibly “100 silver vessels worth [?] talents” or “silver vessels weighing 100 talents.”

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn Heb “received.”

⁸ tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”

⁹ tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.

¹¹ tn BDAG 401 s.v. ἔτος has “δι᾿ ἐ. πλειόνων after several years 24:17.”

¹² tn Grk “to bring alms,” but the term “alms” is not in common use today, so the closest modern equivalent, “gifts for the poor,” is used instead.

¹³ tn Or “sacrifices.” BDAG 887 s.v. προσφορά 1 has “προσφοράς ποιεῖν have sacrifices made Ac 24:17,” but this may be overly specific. It is not clear from the immediate context whether the offering of sacrificial animals (so BDAG assumes) or offerings of some other sort (such as financial gifts) are in view. The combination with ἐλεημοσύνας (elehmosuna") in the preceding clause may suggest monetary offerings. Some have suggested this is an allusion to the payments made by Paul on behalf of the four other men mentioned in Acts 21:23-26, but the text here seems to suggest something Paul had planned to do before he came, while the decision to pay for the expenses of the men in 21:23ff. was made at the suggestion of the Jerusalem leadership after he arrived. In either case, Paul was portraying himself as a pious worshiper of his God.