Ezra 1-5

New International Version

Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return^(A)

1 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:

²“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. ³Any 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. ⁴And 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)

⁵Then 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. ⁶All 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.

⁷Moreover, 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) ⁸Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar^(P) the prince of Judah.

⁹This was the inventory:

gold dishes	30
silver dishes	1,000
silver pans^[b]	29
¹⁰gold bowls	30
matching silver bowls	410
other articles	1,000

¹¹In 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.

The List of the Exiles Who Returned^(Q)

2 Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles,^(R) whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon^(S) had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town,^(T) ²in company with Zerubbabel,^(U) Joshua,^(V) Nehemiah, Seraiah,^(W) Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah):

The list of the men of the people of Israel:

³the descendants of Parosh^(X)	2,172
⁴of Shephatiah	372
⁵of Arah	775
⁶of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab)	2,812
⁷of Elam	1,254
⁸of Zattu	945
⁹of Zakkai	760
¹⁰of Bani	642
¹¹of Bebai	623
¹²of Azgad	1,222
¹³of Adonikam^(Y)	666
¹⁴of Bigvai	2,056
¹⁵of Adin	454
¹⁶of Ater (through Hezekiah)	98
¹⁷of Bezai	323
¹⁸of Jorah	112
¹⁹of Hashum	223
²⁰of Gibbar	95

²¹the men of Bethlehem^(Z)	123
²²of Netophah	56
²³of Anathoth	128
²⁴of Azmaveth	42
²⁵of Kiriath Jearim,^[c] Kephirah and Beeroth	743
²⁶of Ramah^(AA) and Geba	621
²⁷of Mikmash	122
²⁸of Bethel and Ai^(AB)	223
²⁹of Nebo	52
³⁰of Magbish	156
³¹of the other Elam	1,254
³²of Harim	320
³³of Lod, Hadid and Ono	725
³⁴of Jericho^(AC)	345
³⁵of Senaah	3,630

³⁶The priests:

the descendants of Jedaiah^(AD) (through the family of Jeshua)	973
³⁷of Immer^(AE)	1,052
³⁸of Pashhur^(AF)	1,247
³⁹of Harim^(AG)	1,017

⁴⁰The Levites:^(AH)

the descendants of Jeshua^(AI) and Kadmiel (of the line of Hodaviah)

⁴¹The musicians:^(AJ)

the descendants of Asaph

128

⁴²The gatekeepers^(AK) of the temple:

the descendants of
Shallum, Ater, Talmon,
Akkub, Hatita and Shobai	139

⁴³The temple servants:^(AL)

the descendants of

Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,

⁴⁴Keros, Siaha, Padon,

⁴⁵Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,

⁴⁶Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,

⁴⁷Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,

⁴⁸Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,

⁴⁹Uzza, Paseah, Besai,

⁵⁰Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim,

⁵¹Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,

⁵²Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,

⁵³Barkos, Sisera, Temah,

⁵⁴Neziah and Hatipha

⁵⁵The descendants of the servants of Solomon:

the descendants of

Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,

⁵⁶Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,

⁵⁷Shephatiah, Hattil,

Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Ami

⁵⁸The temple servants^(AM) and the descendants of the servants of Solomon

392

⁵⁹The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended^(AN) from Israel:

⁶⁰The descendants of
Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda	652

⁶¹And from among the priests:

The descendants of

Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite^(AO) and was called by that name).

⁶²These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood^(AP) as unclean. ⁶³The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food^(AQ) until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.^(AR)

⁶⁴The whole company numbered 42,360, ⁶⁵besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 200 male and female singers.^(AS) ⁶⁶They had 736 horses,^(AT) 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^(AU) gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. ⁶⁹According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 darics^[d] of gold, 5,000 minas^[e] of silver and 100 priestly garments.

⁷⁰The priests, the Levites, the musicians, the gatekeepers and the temple servants settled in their own towns, along with some of the other people, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.^(AV)

Rebuilding the Altar

3 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,^(AW) the people assembled^(AX) together as one in Jerusalem. ²Then Joshua^(AY) son of Jozadak^(AZ) and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel^(BA) and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses^(BB) the man of God. ³Despite their fear^(BC) of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.^(BD) ⁴Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles^(BE) with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. ⁵After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon^(BF) sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord,^(BG) as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. ⁶On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.

Rebuilding the Temple

⁷Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters,^(BH) and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs^(BI) by sea from Lebanon^(BJ) to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus^(BK) king of Persia.

⁸In the second month^(BL) of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel^(BM) son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty^(BN) years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. ⁹Joshua^(BO) and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah^[f]) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

¹⁰When the builders laid^(BP) the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets,^(BQ) and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise^(BR) the Lord, as prescribed by David^(BS) king of Israel.^(BT) ¹¹With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;
his love toward Israel endures forever.”^(BU)

And all the people gave a great shout^(BV) of praise to the Lord, because the foundation^(BW) of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹²But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple,^(BX) wept^(BY) aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. ¹³No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy^(BZ) from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Opposition to the Rebuilding

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building^(CA) a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, ²they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon^(CB) king of Assyria, who brought us here.”^(CC)

³But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”^(CD)

⁴Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.^[g]^(CE) ⁵They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes

⁶At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes,^[h]^(CF) they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.^(CG)

⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes^(CH) king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic^(CI) language.^[i]^[j]

⁸Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:

⁹Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates^(CJ)—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk^(CK) and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,^(CL) ¹⁰and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal^(CM) deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.^(CN)

¹¹(This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)

To King Artaxerxes,

From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:

¹²The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.^(CO)

¹³Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty^(CP) will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer.^[k] ¹⁴Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, ¹⁵so that a search may be made in the archives^(CQ) of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed.^(CR) ¹⁶We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.

¹⁷The king sent this reply:

To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:^(CS)

Greetings.

¹⁸The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. ¹⁹I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt^(CT) against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. ²⁰Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates,^(CU) and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. ²¹Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. ²²Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?^(CV)

²³As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates,^(CW) they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.

²⁴Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius^(CX) king of Persia.

Tattenai’s Letter to Darius

5 Now Haggai^(CY) the prophet and Zechariah^(CZ) the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied^(DA) to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. ²Then Zerubbabel^(DB) son of Shealtiel and Joshua^(DC) son of Jozadak set to work^(DD) to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

³At that time Tattenai,^(DE) governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai^(DF) and their associates went to them and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”^(DG) ⁴They^[l] also asked, “What are the names of those who are constructing this building?” ⁵But the eye of their God^(DH) was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.

⁶This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius. ⁷The report they sent him read as follows:

To King Darius:

Cordial greetings.

⁸The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work^(DI) is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.

⁹We questioned the elders and asked them, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”^(DJ) ¹⁰We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

¹¹This is the answer they gave us:

“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple^(DK) that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. ¹²But because our ancestors angered^(DL) the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.^(DM)

¹³“However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree^(DN) to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴He even removed from the temple^[m] of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple^[n] in Babylon.^(DO) Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar,^(DP) whom he had appointed governor, ¹⁵and he told him, ‘Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.’

¹⁶“So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God^(DQ) in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.”

¹⁷Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives^(DR) of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.