Ezra 1–3

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

Sacrifice Restored

3By the seventh month, ^qthe Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people gathered together in Jerusalem. ^r2Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel ^sand 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. ^t3They 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. ^u4They celebrated the Festival of Booths as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day. ^v5After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month ^wxand for all the Lord’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to ^ythe Lord.

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

Rebuilding the Temple

⁸In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, ^cand 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 20 years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord’s house. ^d9Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah ^eand of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites, ^fjoined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

Temple Foundation Completed

¹⁰When 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, ^gholding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord, as King David of Israel had instructed. ^h11They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For He is good; His faithful love to Israel endures forever.” ⁱThen all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid. ^j

¹²But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this house, ^kbut many others shouted joyfully. ¹³The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the ^lweeping, ^mbecause the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.