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Ezra

Chapter 1

Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return

1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and 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 me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.

3Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.

4And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

5Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

6All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, 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.Or gods

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

9This was the inventory:
gold dishes30
silver dishes1,000
silver pansThe meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.29

10gold bowls30
matching silver bowls410
other articles1,000

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

Chapter 2

The List of the Exiles Who Returned

1Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,

2in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah):
The list of the men of the people of Israel:

3the descendants of Parosh2,172

4of Shephatiah372

5of Arah775

6of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab)2,812

7of Elam1,254

8of Zattu945

9of Zaccai760

10of Bani642

11of Bebai623

12of Azgad1,222

13of Adonikam666

14of Bigvai2,056

15of Adin454

16of Ater (through Hezekiah)98

17of Bezai323

18of Jorah112

19of Hashum223

20of Gibbar95

21the men of Bethlehem123

22of Netophah56

23of Anathoth128

24of Azmaveth42

25of Kiriath Jearim,See Septuagint (see also Neh. 7:29); Hebrew Kiriath Arim. Kephirah and Beeroth743

26of Ramah and Geba621

27of Micmash122

28of Bethel and Ai223

29of Nebo52

30of Magbish156

31of the other Elam1,254

32of Harim320

33of Lod, Hadid and Ono725

34of Jericho345

35of Senaah3,630

36The priests:
the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua)973

37of Immer1,052

38of Pashhur1,247

39of Harim1,017

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

41The singers:
the descendants of Asaph128

42The gatekeepers of the temple:
the descendants of
Shallum, Ater, Talmon,
Akkub, Hatita and Shobai139

43The temple servants:
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, Nephussim,

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 and the descendants of the servants of Solomon392

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 from Israel:

60The descendants of
Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda652

61And from among the priests:
The descendants of
Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite 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 as unclean.

63The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.

64The whole company numbered 42,360,

65besides their 7,337 menservants and maidservants; and they also had 200 men and women 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 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 drachmasThat is, about 1,100 pounds (about 500 kilograms) of gold, 5,000 minasThat is, about 3 tons (about 2.9 metric tons) of silver and 100 priestly garments.

70The priests, the Levites, the singers, 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.

Chapter 3

Rebuilding the Altar

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

2Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel 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 the man of God.

3Despite their fear 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.

4Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day.

5After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, 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, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.

8In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites twenty years of age and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD.

9Jeshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of HodaviahHebrew Yehudah, probably a variant of Hodaviah) 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 the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel.

11With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD:
“He is good;
his love to Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation 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, wept 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 from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.