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An Edict to Rebuild the Temple(A)

During the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the message from the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord prompted[a] Cyrus, king of Persia, to make this proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, which was also released in written form:

An Official Statement

from[b] Cyrus, King of Persia

All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the Lord God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple[c] for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, who among the Lord’s[d] people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem of Judah to rebuild the Temple of the Lord[e] God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem. Furthermore, everyone who wishes to repatriate[f] from any territory where he now resides is to receive assistance from his fellow residents in the form of silver, gold, equipment, and pack animals, in addition to voluntary offerings for the Temple of the God of Jerusalem.

In response, the heads of the families[g] of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and descendants of Levi, and all those who had been prompted[h] by God, prepared to travel to rebuild the Temple of the Lord, which was in Jerusalem. So all of their neighbors equipped the travelers[i] with silver, gold, equipment, pack animals, and valuable goods, in addition to voluntary offerings.

Temple Instruments Returned

King Cyrus also brought out from storage[j] the service instruments from the Temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his gods.[k] Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out to Mithredath the Treasurer, had them inventoried, and had them placed in care of[l] Sheshbazzar,[m] governor of Judah. Here is a partial inventory:[n]

Gold dishes: 30

Silver dishes: 1,000

Sacrificial knives: 29

10 Gold bowls: 30

Silver bowls of another kind:[o] 410

Miscellaneous instruments: 1,000

11 The complete inventory of gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar[p] brought them all to Jerusalem, along with the exiles from Babylon.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 1:1 Lit. stirred up the spirit of
  2. Ezra 1:2 Lit. Thus says
  3. Ezra 1:2 Or house, and so throughout the book
  4. Ezra 1:3 Lit. among all of his
  5. Ezra 1:3 Lit. of his Lord
  6. Ezra 1:4 Lit. who remains
  7. Ezra 1:5 Lit. fathers
  8. Ezra 1:5 Lit. all whose spirit had been stirred up
  9. Ezra 1:6 Lit. strengthened their hands
  10. Ezra 1:7 The Heb. lacks from storage
  11. Ezra 1:7 LXX his god
  12. Ezra 1:8 Lit. Treasurer, and numbered them to
  13. Ezra 1:8 I.e. Zerubbabel; Sheshbazzar is the Persian equivalent (cf. 2:2)
  14. Ezra 1:9 Lit. This was their number
  15. Ezra 1:10 Lit. of a second
  16. Ezra 1:11 I.e. Zerubbabel; Sheshbazzar is the Persian equivalent (cf. 2:2)

Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return(A)

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah,(B) the Lord moved the heart(C) of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed(D) me to build(E) a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors(F) may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold,(G) with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings(H) for the temple of God(I) in Jerusalem.’”(J)

Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin,(K) and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved(L)—prepared to go up and build the house(M) of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold,(N) with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.[a](O) Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar(P) the prince of Judah.

This was the inventory:

gold dishes30
silver dishes1,000
silver pans[b]29
10 gold bowls30
matching silver bowls410
other articles1,000

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

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 1:7 Or gods
  2. Ezra 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.