Ezra 1–4

1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

2“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.

3Whoever among you belongs to 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; He is the God who is in Jerusalem.

4And let every survivor, wherever 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.’”

5So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

6And all their neighbors supported them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuables, in addition to all their freewill offerings.

7King Cyrus also brought out the articles belonging to the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the temple of his gods.

8Cyrus king of Persia had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

9This was the inventory: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 silver utensils,

1030 gold bowls, 410 matching silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.

11In all, there were 5,400 gold and silver articles. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

1Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,

2accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

3the descendants of Parosh, 2,172;

4the descendants of Shephatiah, 372;

5the descendants of Arah, 775;

6the descendants of Pahath-moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab), 2,812;

7the descendants of Elam, 1,254;

8the descendants of Zattu, 945;

9the descendants of Zaccai, 760;

10the descendants of Bani, 642;

11the descendants of Bebai, 623;

12the descendants of Azgad, 1,222;

13the descendants of Adonikam, 666;

14the descendants of Bigvai, 2,056;

15the descendants of Adin, 454;

16the descendants of Ater (through Hezekiah), 98;

17the descendants of Bezai, 323;

18the descendants of Jorah, 112;

19the descendants of Hashum, 223;

20the descendants of Gibbar, 95;

21the men of Bethlehem, 123;

22the men of Netophah, 56;

23the men of Anathoth, 128;

24the descendants of Azmaveth, 42;

25the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;

26the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;

27the men of Michmash, 122;

28the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;

29the descendants of Nebo, 52;

30the descendants of Magbish, 156;

31the descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;

32the descendants of Harim, 320;

33the men of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725;

34the men of Jericho, 345;

35and the descendants of Senaah, 3,630.

36The priests: The descendants of Jedaiah (through the house of Jeshua), 973;

37the descendants of Immer, 1,052;

38the descendants of Pashhur, 1,247;

39and the descendants of Harim, 1,017.

40The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (through the line of Hodaviah), 74.

41The singers: the descendants of Asaph, 128.

42The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, the descendants of Ater, the descendants of Talmon, the descendants of Akkub, the descendants of Hatita, and the descendants of Shobai, 139 in all.

43The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,

44the descendants of Keros, the descendants of Siaha, the descendants of Padon,

45the descendants of Lebanah, the descendants of Hagabah, the descendants of Akkub,

46the descendants of Hagab, the descendants of Shalmai, the descendants of Hanan,

47the descendants of Giddel, the descendants of Gahar, the descendants of Reaiah,

48the descendants of Rezin, the descendants of Nekoda, the descendants of Gazzam,

49the descendants of Uzza, the descendants of Paseah, the descendants of Besai,

50the descendants of Asnah, the descendants of Meunim, the descendants of Nephusim,

51the descendants of Bakbuk, the descendants of Hakupha, the descendants of Harhur,

52the descendants of Bazluth, the descendants of Mehida, the descendants of Harsha,

53the descendants of Barkos, the descendants of Sisera, the descendants of Temah,

54the descendants of Neziah, and the descendants of Hatipha.

55The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, the descendants of Hassophereth, the descendants of Peruda,

56the descendants of Jaala, the descendants of Darkon, the descendants of Giddel,

57the descendants of Shephatiah, the descendants of Hattil, the descendants of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the descendants of Ami.

58The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.

59The following came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:

60the descendants of Delaiah, the descendants of Tobiah, and the descendants of Nekoda, 652 in all.

61And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).

62These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

63The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest to consult the Urim and Thummim.

64The whole assembly numbered 42,360,

65in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 200 male and female singers.

66They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

67435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

68When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings to rebuild the house of God on its original site.

69According to their ability, they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priestly garments.

70So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, along with some of the people, settled in their own towns; and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.

1By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.

2Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

3They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD—both the morning and evening burnt offerings—even though they feared the people of the land.

4They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.

5After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings and those for New Moons and for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as all the freewill offerings brought to the LORD.

6On the first day of the seventh month, the Israelites began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, although the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid.

7They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.

8In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD.

9So Jeshua and his sons and brothers, Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Yehudah), and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

10When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as David king of Israel had prescribed.

11And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: “For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid.

12But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully.

13The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.

1When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,

2they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”

3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”

4Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build.

5They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, an accusation was lodged against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

7And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.

8Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

9From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates—the judges and officials over Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,

10and the rest of the peoples whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and elsewhere west of the Euphrates.

11(This is the text of the letter they sent to him.) To King Artaxerxes, From your servants, the men west of the Euphrates:

12Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.

13Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.

14Now because we are in the service of the palace and it is not fitting for us to allow the king to be dishonored, we have sent to inform the king

15that a search should be made of the record books of your fathers. In these books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, inciting sedition from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.

16We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will have no dominion west of the Euphrates.

17Then the king sent this reply: To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates: Greetings.

18The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.

19I issued a decree, and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has revolted against kings from ancient times, engaging in rebellion and sedition.

20And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.

21Now, therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.

22See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the royal interests to suffer?

23When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

24Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.