1 Esdras 2:1–7:15

¹In the first year of Cyrus as king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, ²the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king 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 at Jerusalem, which is in Judea. ⁵If any one of you, therefore, is of his people, may his Lord be with him, and let him 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 man, wherever he may live, be helped by the men of his place with gold and silver, ⁷with gifts and with horses and cattle, besides the other things added as votive offerings for the temple of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.”

⁸Then 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; ⁹and their 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.

¹⁰Cyrus the king also brought out the holy vessels of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and stored in his temple of idols. ¹¹When Cyrus king of the Perians brought these out, he gave them to Mithridates his treasurer, ¹²and by him they were given to Sheshbazzar the governor of Judea. ¹³The number of these was: a thousand gold cups, a thousand silver cups, twenty-nine silver censers, thirty gold bowls, two thousand four hundred and ten silver bowls, and a thousand other vessels. ¹⁴All the vessels were handed over, gold and silver, five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, ¹⁵and they were carried back by Sheshbazzar with the returning exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem.

¹⁶But in the time of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, Bishlam, Mithridates, Tabeel, Rehum, Beltethmus, Shimshai the scribe, 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:

¹⁷“To King Artaxerxes our lord, Your servants Rehum the recorder and Shimshai the scribe and the other judges of their council in Coelesyria and Phoenicia: ¹⁸Now be it 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 market places and walls and laying the foundations for a temple. ¹⁹Now if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not only refuse to pay tribute but will even resist kings. ²⁰And since the building of the temple is now going on, we think it best not to neglect such a matter, ²¹but 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 fathers. ²²You will find in the chronicles what has been written about them, and will learn that this city was rebellious, troubling both kings and other cities, ²³and that the Jews were rebels and kept setting up blockades in it from of old. That is why this city was laid waste. ²⁴Therefore 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.”

²⁵Then the king, in reply to Rehum the recorder and Beltethmus and Shimshai the scribe and the others associated with them and living in Samaria and Syria and Phoenicia, wrote as follows:

²⁶“I have read the letter which 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, ²⁷and that the men in it were given to rebellion and war, and that mighty and cruel kings ruled in Jerusalem and exacted tribute from Coelesyria and Phoenicia. ²⁸Therefore I have now issued orders to prevent these men from building the city and to take care that nothing more be done ²⁹and that such wicked proceedings go no further to the annoyance of kings.”

³⁰Then, when the letter from King Artaxerxes was read, Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates went in haste to Jerusalem, with horsemen and a multitude in battle array, and began to hinder the builders. And the building of the temple in Jerusalem ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of the Persians.

Chapter 3

¹Now King Darius gave a great banquet for all that were under him and all that were born in his house and all the nobles of Media and Persia ²and all the satraps and generals and governors that were under him in the hundred and twenty-seven satrapies from India to Ethiopia. ³They ate and drank, and when they were satisfied they departed; and Darius the king went to his bedroom, and went to sleep, and then awoke.

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 thing is strongest; and to him whose statement seems wisest, Darius the king 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, and have a chariot with gold bridles, and a turban of fine linen, and a necklace about his neck; ⁷and because of his wisdom he shall sit next to Darius and shall be called kinsman of Darius.”

⁸Then each wrote his own statement, and they sealed them and put them under the pillow of Darius the king, ⁹and said, “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.” ¹⁰The first wrote, “Wine is strongest.” ¹¹The second wrote, “The king is strongest.” ¹²The third wrote, “Women are strongest, but truth is victor over all things.”

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, ¹⁵and he took his seat in the council chamber, and the writing was read in their presence. ¹⁶And he said, “Call the young men, and they shall explain their statements.” So they were summoned, and came in. ¹⁷And they said to them, “Explain to us what you have written.”

Then the first, who had spoken of the strength of wine, began and said: ¹⁸“Gentlemen, how is wine the strongest? It leads astray the minds of all who drink it. ¹⁹It makes equal the mind of the king and the orphan, of the slave and the free, of the poor and the rich. ²⁰It turns every thought to feasting and mirth, and forgets all sorrow and debt. ²¹It makes all hearts feel rich, forgets kings and satraps, and makes every one talk in millions. ²²When men drink they forget to be friendly with friends and brothers, and before long they draw their swords. ²³And when they recover from the wine, they do not remember what they have done. ²⁴Gentlemen, is not wine the strongest, since it forces men to do these things?” When he had said this, he stopped speaking.

Chapter 4

¹Then 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? ³But 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, reap the harvest and bring some to the king; and they compel one another to pay taxes to the king. ⁷And yet he is only one man! If he tells them to kill, they kill; if he tells them to release, they release; ⁸if 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. ¹⁰All his people and his armies obey him. Moreover, 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.

¹³Then the third, that is Zerubbabel, who had spoken of women and truth, began to speak: ¹⁴Gentlemen, is not the king great, and are not men many, and is not wine strong? Who then is their master, or who is their lord? 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. ¹⁸If 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. ²⁰A man leaves his own father, who brought him up, and his own country, and cleaves to his wife. ²¹With his wife he ends his days, with no thought of his father or his mother or his country. ²²Hence 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 the sea and rivers; ²⁴he faces lions, and he walks in darkness, and when he steals and robs and plunders, he brings it back to the woman he loves. ²⁵A…