THE DECREE OF CYRUS

1 Ina the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah,b the Lord roused the spiritc of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

2 This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.d 3 Any of his people among you, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel,e the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 Let every survivor,f wherever he resides, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

RETURN FROM EXILE

5 So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had rousedg—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors supported themA,h with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.i 8 King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.j 9 This was the inventory:

30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins,

29 silver knives, 10 30 gold bowls,

410 variousB silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.

11 The gold and silver articles totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of them when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

THE EXILES WHO RETURNED

2 Thesek now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of BabylonC had deported to Babylon.l They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with Zerubbabel,m Jeshua,n Nehemiah, Seraiah,o Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the Israelite men includedD

42 The gatekeepers’b descendants included

Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants,

Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants,

43 The temple servantsc included

Ziha’s descendants, Hasupha’s descendants,

Tabbaoth’s descendants, 44 Keros’s descendants,

Siaha’s descendants, Padon’s descendants,

45 Lebanah’s descendants, Hagabah’s descendants,

Akkub’s descendants, 46 Hagab’s descendants,

Shalmai’sA descendants, Hanan’s descendants,

47 Giddel’s descendants, Gahar’s descendants,

Reaiah’s descendants, 48 Rezin’s descendants,

Nekoda’s descendants, Gazzam’s descendants,

49 Uzza’s descendants, Paseah’s descendants,

Besai’s descendants, 50 Asnah’s descendants,

Meunim’sB descendants, Nephusim’sC descendants,

51 Bakbuk’s descendants, Hakupha’s descendants,

Harhur’s descendants, 52 Bazluth’s descendants,

Mehida’s descendants, Harsha’s descendants,

53 Barkos’s descendants, Sisera’s descendants,

Temah’s descendants, 54 Neziah’s descendants,

and Hatipha’s descendants.

55 The descendants of Solomon’s servantsd included

Sotai’s descendants, Hassophereth’s descendants,

Peruda’s descendants, 56 Jaalah’s descendants,

Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,

57 Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants,

Pochereth-hazzebaim’s descendants, and Ami’s descendants.

58 All the temple servants

59 The following are those who came from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer but were unable to prove that their ancestral familiesD and their lineage were Israelite:

60 Delaiah’s descendants,

Tobiah’s descendants,

61 and from the descendants of the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, the descendants of Barzillai—who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and who bore their name. 62 These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood. 63 The governore ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.f

65 not including their 7,337 male and female servants,

and their 200 male and female singers.g

66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

67 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

GIFTS FOR THE WORK

68 After they arrived at the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, some of the family heads gave freewill offeringsh for the house of God in order to have it rebuilt on its original site. 69 Based on what they could give, they gave 61,000 gold coins,A 6,250 poundsB of silver, and 100 priestly garments to the treasurya for the project. 70 The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, and some of the people settled in their towns, and the rest of Israel settled in their towns.b

SACRIFICE RESTORED

3 When the seventh month arrived,c and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered as one in Jerusalem.d 2 Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiele and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel’s God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.f 3 They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.g 4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.h 5 After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each monthC,i and for all the Lord’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought toD the Lord.

6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord,j even though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid. 7 They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they would bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea,k according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.l

REBUILDING THE TEMPLE

8 In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak,m and the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began to build. They appointed the Levites who were twenty years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord’s house.n 9 Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah* and of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites,o joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

TEMPLE FOUNDATION COMPLETED

10 When the builders had laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple, the priests, dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph,p holding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord, as King David of Israel had instructed.q 11 They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For he is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever.”r Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid.s

12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple,t but many others shouted joyfully. 13 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of theF weeping,u because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.

OPPOSITION TO REBUILDING THE TEMPLE

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjaminv heard that the returned exilesG,w were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the family heads and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to himH since the time King Esar-haddon of Assyria brought us here.”x

3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of Israel’s families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God,y since we alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”z