Ezra 1–2

Cyrus Helps the Jews Build the Lord’s Temple

1It was the first year of the rule of Cyrus. He was king of Persia. The Lord stirred him up to send a message all through his kingdom. It happened so that what the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah would come true. The message was written down. It said,

²“Cyrus, the king of Persia, says,

“ ‘The Lord is the God of heaven. He has given me all of the kingdoms on earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.

³“ ‘Any one of his people among you can go up to Jerusalem. And may your God be with you. You can build the Lord’s temple. He is the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem.

⁴“ ‘The people who are still left alive in every place must bring him gifts. They must provide him with silver and gold. They must bring goods and livestock. They should also bring any offerings they choose to. All of those gifts will be for God’s temple in Jerusalem.’ ”

⁵Then everyone God had stirred up got ready to go. They wanted to go up to Jerusalem and build the Lord’s temple there. They included the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin. They also included the priests and Levites.

⁶All of their neighbors helped them. They gave them silver and gold articles. They gave them goods and livestock. And they gave them gifts of great value. All of those things were added to the other offerings the people chose to give.

⁷King Cyrus also brought out the articles that belonged to the Lord’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar had carried them off from Jerusalem. He had put them in the temple of his own god. ⁸Cyrus, the king of Persia, told Mithredath to bring them out. Mithredath was in charge of the temple treasures. He counted the articles. Then he gave them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

⁹Here is a list of the articles.

There were 30 gold dishes.

There were 1,000 silver dishes.

There were 29 silver pans.

¹⁰There were 30 gold bowls.

There were 410 matching silver bowls.

There were 1,000 other articles.

¹¹The total number of gold and silver articles was 5,400. Sheshbazzar took all of them with him to Jerusalem. He brought them along when the Jews who had been forced to leave Judah came back from Babylon.

A List of People Who Returned to Judah

2Nebuchadnezzar had taken many Jews away from the land of Judah. He had forced them to go to Babylonia as prisoners. Now they returned to Jerusalem and Judah. All of them went back to their own towns. Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia. ²The leaders of the Jews included Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah and Reelaiah. They also included Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah.

Here is a list of the men of Israel who returned home.

³There were 2,172 from the family line of Parosh.

⁴There were 372 from Shephatiah.

⁵There were 775 from Arah.

⁶There were 2,812 from Pahath-Moab through the family line of Jeshua and Joab.

⁷There were 1,254 from Elam.

⁸There were 945 from Zattu.

⁹There were 760 from Zaccai.

¹⁰There were 642 from Bani.

¹¹There were 623 from Bebai.

¹²There were 1,222 from Azgad.

¹³There were 666 from Adonikam.

¹⁴There were 2,056 from Bigvai.

¹⁵There were 454 from Adin.

¹⁶There were 98 from Ater through the family line of Hezekiah.

¹⁷There were 323 from Bezai.

¹⁸There were 112 from Jorah.

¹⁹There were 223 from Hashum.

²⁰There were 95 from Gibbar.

²¹There were 123 from the men of Bethlehem.

²²There were 56 from Netophah.

²³There were 128 from Anathoth.

²⁴There were 42 from Azmaveth.

²⁵There were 743 from Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth.

²⁶There were 621 from Ramah and Geba.

²⁷There were 122 from Micmash.

²⁸There were 223 from Bethel and Ai.

²⁹There were 52 from Nebo.

³⁰There were 156 from Magbish.

³¹There were 1,254 from the other Elam.

³²There were 320 from Harim.

³³There were 725 from Lod, Hadid and Ono.

³⁴There were 345 from Jericho.

³⁵There were 3,630 from Senaah.

³⁶Here is a list of the priests.

There were 973 from the family line of Jedaiah through the line of Jeshua.

³⁷There were 1,052 from Immer.

³⁸There were 1,247 from Pashhur.

³⁹There were 1,017 from Harim.

⁴⁰Here is a list of the Levites.

There were 74 from the family lines of Jeshua and Kadmiel through the line of Hodaviah.

⁴¹Here is a list of the singers.

There were 128 from the family line of Asaph.

⁴²Here is a list of the men who guarded the temple gates.

There were 139 from the family lines of

Shallum, Ater, Talmon,

Akkub, Hatita and Shobai.

⁴³Here is a list of the members of the family lines of the temple servants.

Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,

⁴⁴Keros, Siaha, Padon,

⁴⁵Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,

⁴⁶Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,

⁴⁷Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,

⁴⁸Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,

⁴⁹Uzza, Paseah, Besai,

⁵⁰Asnah, Meunim, Nephussim,

⁵¹Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,

⁵²Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,

⁵³Barkos, Sisera, Temah,

⁵⁴Neziah, Hatipha

⁵⁵Here is a list of the members of the family lines of the servants of Solomon.

Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,

⁵⁶Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,

⁵⁷Shephatiah, Hattil,

Pokereth-Hazzebaim, Ami

⁵⁸The total number of the members of the family lines of the temple servants and the servants of Solomon was 392.

⁵⁹Many people came up to Judah from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer. But they weren’t able to prove that their families belonged to the people of Israel.

⁶⁰There were 652 of them from the family lines of

Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda.

⁶¹Here is a list of the members of the family lines of the priests.

They were Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai. Barzillai had married a daughter of Barzillai from Gilead. So he was also called Barzillai.

⁶²The priests looked for their family records. But they couldn’t find them. So they weren’t able to serve as priests. They weren’t “clean.”

⁶³The governor gave them an order. He told them not to eat any of the most sacred food. They had to wait until there was a priest who could use the Urim and Thummim to find out what the Lord wanted them to do.

⁶⁴The total number of the entire group that returned was 42,360. ⁶⁵That didn’t include their 7,337 male and female slaves. There were also 200 male and female singers. ⁶⁶And there were 736 horses, 245 mules, ⁶⁷435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.

⁶⁸All of the people arrived at the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. Then some of the leaders of the families brought offerings they chose to give. They would be used for rebuilding the house of God. It would stand in the same place it had been before. ⁶⁹The people gave money for the work. It was based on how much they had. They gave 1,100 pounds of gold. They also gave three tons of silver. And they gave 100 sets of clothes for the priests. All of that was added to the temple treasure.

⁷⁰The priests and Levites settled in their own towns. So did the singers, the men who guarded the gates, and the temple servants. The rest of the people of Israel also settled in their own towns.