Ezra 1–2

The Decree of Cyrus

1In ^athe first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^bthe word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. ^cThe Lord put it into the mind ^dof King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

²This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. ^e3Whoever is among His people, 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, ^fthe God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴Let every survivor, ^gwherever he lives, 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

⁵So the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone God had motivated ^hi—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. ⁶All their neighbors supported them ^jkwith silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. ⁷King 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. ^l8King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. ^m9This was the inventory:

30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins,

29 silver knives, ¹⁰30 gold bowls,

410 various ⁿsilver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.

¹¹The 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

2These ^onow are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ^phad deported to Babylon. ^qThey returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. ²They came with Zerubbabel, ^rJeshua, ^sNehemiah, Seraiah, ^tReelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the Israelite men included: ^u

³Parosh’s descendants ^v2,172

⁴Shephatiah’s descendants 372

⁵Arah’s descendants 775

⁶Pahath-moab’s descendants:

Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants 2,812

⁷Elam’s descendants 1,254

⁸Zattu’s descendants 945

⁹Zaccai’s descendants 760

¹⁰Bani’s descendants 642

¹¹Bebai’s descendants 623

¹²Azgad’s descendants 1,222

¹³Adonikam’s descendants ^w666

¹⁴Bigvai’s descendants 2,056

¹⁵Adin’s descendants 454

¹⁶Ater’s descendants: of Hezekiah 98

¹⁷Bezai’s descendants 323

¹⁸Jorah’s descendants 112

¹⁹Hashum’s descendants 223

²⁰Gibbar’s descendants 95

²¹Bethlehem’s ^xpeople 123

²²Netophah’s men 56

²³Anathoth’s men 128

²⁴Azmaveth’s people 42

²⁵Kiriatharim’s, Chephirah’s, and Beeroth’s people 743

²⁶Ramah’s ^yand Geba’s people 621

²⁷Michmas’s men 122

²⁸Bethel’s and Ai’s ^zmen 223

²⁹Nebo’s people 52

³⁰Magbish’s people 156

³¹the other Elam’s people 1,254

³²Harim’s people 320

³³Lod’s, Hadid’s, and Ono’s people 725

³⁴Jericho’s ^apeople 345

³⁵Senaah’s people 3,630

³⁶The priests included:

Jedaiah’s descendants of the house of Jeshua 973

³⁷Immer’s descendants 1,052

³⁸Pashhur’s descendants 1,247

³⁹and Harim’s descendants 1,017

⁴⁰The Levites included:

Jeshua’s and Kadmiel’s descendants

from Hodaviah’s descendants 74

⁴¹The singers included:

Asaph’s ^bdescendants 128

⁴²The gatekeepers’ ^cdescendants included:

Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants,

Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants,

Hatita’s descendants, Shobai’s descendants, in all 139

⁴³The temple servants ^dincluded:

Ziha’s descendants, Hasupha’s descendants,

Tabbaoth’s descendants, ⁴⁴Keros’s descendants,

Siaha’s descendants, Padon’s descendants,

⁴⁵Lebanah’s descendants, Hagabah’s descendants,

Akkub’s descendants, ⁴⁶Hagab’s descendants,

Shalmai’s ^edescendants, Hanan’s descendants,

⁴⁷Giddel’s descendants, Gahar’s descendants,

Reaiah’s descendants, ⁴⁸Rezin’s descendants,

Nekoda’s descendants, Gazzam’s descendants,

⁴⁹Uzza’s descendants, Paseah’s descendants,

Besai’s descendants, ⁵⁰Asnah’s descendants,

Meunim’s ^fdescendants, Nephusim’s ^gdescendants,

⁵¹Bakbuk’s descendants, Hakupha’s descendants,

Harhur’s descendants, ⁵²Bazluth’s descendants,

Mehida’s descendants, Harsha’s descendants,

⁵³Barkos’s descendants, Sisera’s descendants,

Temah’s descendants, ⁵⁴Neziah’s descendants,

and Hatipha’s descendants.

⁵⁵The descendants of Solomon’s servants ^hincluded:

Sotai’s descendants, Hassophereth’s descendants,

Peruda’s descendants, ⁵⁶Jaalah’s descendants,

Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,

⁵⁷Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants,

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

⁵⁸All the temple servants

and the descendants of Solomon’s servants 392.

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

⁶⁰Delaiah’s descendants,

Tobiah’s descendants,

Nekoda’s descendants 652

⁶¹and 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 was called by their name. ⁶²These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood. ⁶³The governor ⁱordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim. ^j

⁶⁴The whole combined assembly numbered 42,360

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

and their 200 male and female singers. ^k

⁶⁶They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

⁶⁷435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

Gifts for the Work

⁶⁸After they arrived at the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders gave freewill offerings ^lfor the house of God in order to have it rebuilt on its original site. ⁶⁹Based on what they could give, they gave 61,000 gold coins, ^m6,250 pounds ⁿof silver, and 100 priestly garments to the treasury ^ofor the project. ⁷⁰The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, and some of the people settled in their towns, and the rest of Israel settled in their towns. ^p