1 Esdras 2–7

Cyrus Permits the Exiles to Return

²In the first year of Cyrus as king of the Persians, so that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished,^{* 2}the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of the Persians, and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

³“Thus says Cyrus king of the Persians: The Lord of Israel, the Lord Most High, has made me king of the world, ⁴and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. ⁵If any of you, therefore, are of his nation, may your Lord be with you;ⁱ go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord of Israel—he is the Lord who dwells in Jerusalem—⁶and let each of you, wherever you may live, be helped by your neighbors with gold and silver, with gifts and with horses and cattle, besides the other things added as votive offerings for the temple of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.”

⁷Then arose the heads of families of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, and all whose spirit the Lord had stirred to go up to build the house in Jerusalem for the Lord; ⁸their neighbors helped them with everything, with silver and gold, with horses and cattle, and with a very great number of votive offerings from many whose hearts were stirred.

⁹King Cyrus also brought out the holy vessels of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and stored in his temple of idols.^{* 10}When King Cyrus of the Persians brought these out, he gave them to Mithridates, his treasurer, ¹¹and by him they were given to Sheshbazzar, the governor of Judea.^{* 12}The number of these was: one thousand gold cups, one thousand silver cups, twenty-nine silver censers, thirty gold bowls, two thousand four hundred ten silver bowls, and one thousand other vessels.^{* 13}All the vessels were handed over, gold and silver, five thousand four hundred sixty-nine,^{* 14}and they were carried back by Sheshbazzar with the returning exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem.^*

Opposition to Rebuilding Jerusalem

¹⁵In the time of King Artaxerxes of the Persians, Bishlam, Mithridates, Tabeel, Rehum, Beltethmus, the scribe Shimshai, and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and other places wrote him the following letter, against those who were living in Judea and Jerusalem:^*

¹⁶“To King Artaxerxes our lord, your servants the recorder Rehum and the scribe Shimshai and the other members of their council, and the judges in Coelesyria and Phoenicia:^{* 17}Let it now be known to our lord the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem and are building that rebellious and wicked city, repairing its marketplaces and walls and laying the foundations for a temple. ¹⁸Now if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not only refuse to pay tribute but will even resist kings. Since the building of the temple is now going on, we think it best not to neglect such a matter but to speak to our lord the king in order that, if it seems good to you, search may be made in the records of your ancestors. ¹⁹You will find in the annals what has been written about them and will learn that this city was rebellious, troubling both kings and other cities, and that the Jews were rebels and kept setting up blockades in it from of old. That is why this city was laid waste. ²⁰Therefore we now make known to you, O lord and king, that if this city is built and its walls finished, you will no longer have access to Coelesyria and Phoenicia.”^*

²¹Then the king, in reply to the recorder Rehum, Beltethmus, the scribe Shimshai, and the others associated with them and living in Samaria and Syria and Phoenicia, wrote as follows:^*

²²“I have read the letter that you sent me. So I ordered search to be made, and it has been found that this city from of old has fought against kings, ²³that the people in it were given to rebellion and war, and that mighty and cruel kings ruled in Jerusalem and exacted tribute from Coelesyria and Phoenicia.^{* 24}Therefore I have now issued orders to prevent these people from building the city and to take care that nothing more be done and that such wicked proceedings go no further to the annoyance of kings.”

²⁵Then, when the letter from King Artaxerxes was read, Rehum and the scribe Shimshai and their associates went quickly to Jerusalem, with cavalry and a large number of armed troops, and began to hinder the builders. And the building of the temple in Jerusalem stopped until the second year of the reign of King Darius of the Persians.^*

The Debate of the Three Bodyguards

³Now King Darius gave a great banquet for all who were under him, all who were born in his house, and all the nobles of Media and Persia,^{* 2}and all the satraps and generals and governors who were under him in the hundred twenty-seven satrapies from India to Ethiopia.^{* 3}They ate and drank, and when they were satisfied they went away, and King Darius went to his bedroom; he went to sleep but woke up again.^*

⁴Then the three young men of the bodyguard who kept guard over the person of the king said to one another, ⁵“Let each of us state what one word is strongest, and to the one whose statement seems wisest, King Darius will give rich gifts and great honors of victory. ⁶He shall be clothed in purple and drink from gold cups and sleep on a gold bed^j and have a chariot with gold bridles and a turban of fine linen and a necklace around his neck,^{* 7}and because of his wisdom he shall sit next to Darius and shall be called Kinsman of Darius.”^*

⁸Then each bodyguard wrote his own statement, and they sealed them and put them under the pillow of King Darius and said, ⁹“When the king wakes, they will give him the writing, and to the one whose statement the king and the three nobles of Persia judge to be wisest the victory shall be given according to what is written.”^{* 10}The first wrote, “Wine is strongest.” ¹¹The second wrote, “The king is strongest.” ¹²The third wrote, “Women are strongest, but above all things truth is victor.”^k

¹³When the king awoke, they took the writing and gave it to him, and he read it. ¹⁴Then he sent and summoned all the nobles of Persia and Media and the satraps and generals and governors and prefects, and he took his seat in the council chamber, and the writing was read in their presence.^{* 15}He said, “Call the young men, and they shall explain their statements.” So they were summoned and came in. ¹⁶They said to them, “Explain to us what you have written.”

The Speech about Wine

Then the first, who had spoken of the strength of wine, began and said: ¹⁷“Gentlemen, how is wine the strongest? It leads astray the minds of all who drink it.^{* 18}It makes equal the mind of the king and the orphan, of the slave and the free, of the poor and the rich. ¹⁹It turns every thought to feasting and gladness and forgets all sorrow and debt.^{* 20}It makes all hearts feel rich, forgets kings and satraps, and makes everyone talk of extravagant sums.^{l 21}When people drink they forget to be friendly with friends and kindred, and before long they draw their swords.^{* 22}And when they recover from the wine, they do not remember what they have done.^{* 23}Gentlemen, is not wine the strongest, since it forces people to do these things?” When he had said this, he stopped speaking.

The Speech about the King

⁴Then the second, who had spoken of the strength of the king, began to speak: ²“Gentlemen, are not men strongest, who rule over land and sea and all that is in them?^{* 3}But the king is stronger; he is their lord and master, and whatever he says to them they obey. ⁴If he tells them to make war on one another, they do it, and if he sends them out against the enemy, they go and conquer mountains, walls, and towers. ⁵They kill and are killed and do not disobey the king’s command; if they win the victory, they bring everything to the king—whatever spoil they take and everything else. ⁶Likewise those who do not serve in the army or make war but till the soil; whenever they sow and reap, they bring some to the king, and they compel one another to pay taxes to the king.^{* 7}And yet he is only one man! If he tells them to kill, they kill; if he tells them to release, they release;^{* 8}if he tells them to attack, they attack; if he tells them to lay waste, they lay waste; if he tells them to build, they build; ⁹if he tells them to cut down, they cut down; if he tells them to plant, they plant.^{* 10}All his people and his armies obey him. Furthermore, he reclines, he eats and drinks and sleeps, ¹¹but they keep watch around him, and no one may go away to attend to his own affairs, nor do they disobey him. ¹²Gentlemen, why is not the king the strongest, since he is to be obeyed in this fashion?” And he stopped speaking.

The Speech about Women

¹³Then the third, who had spoken of women and truth (and this was Zerubbabel), began to speak:^{* 14}“Gentlemen, is not the king great, and are not men many, and is not wine strong? Who is it, then, who rules them or has the mastery over them? Is it not women? ¹⁵Women gave birth to the king and to every people that rules over sea and land. ¹⁶From women they came, and women brought up the very men who plant the vineyards from which comes wine. ¹⁷Women make men’s clothes; they bring men glory; men cannot exist without women.^{* 18}If men gather gold and silver or any other beautiful thing and then see a woman lovely in appearance and beauty, ¹⁹they let all those things go and gape at her and with open mouths stare at her, and all prefer her to gold or silver or any other beautiful thing.^{* 20}A man leaves his own father, who brought him up, and his own region and clings to his wife.^{* 21}With his wife he ends his days, with no thought of his father or his mother or his region. ²²Therefore you must realize that women rule over you!

“Do you not labor and toil and bring everything and give it to women? ²³A man takes his sword and goes out to travel and rob and steal and to sail…