Cyrus’ Proclamation

1 ^(A)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he ^(B)sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

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 ^(C)He has appointed me to rebuild for Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! ^[a]Go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; ^(D)He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ And every survivor, at whatever place he may ^[b]live, the people of ^[c]that place are to support him with silver and gold, with equipment and cattle, together with a ^[d]voluntary offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

Holy Vessels Restored

⁵ Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, ^(E)everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. ⁶ And all of those around them ^[e](F)encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with equipment, cattle, and with valuables, aside from everything that was given as a ^[f]voluntary offering. ^7 (G)Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, ^(H)which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; ⁸ and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to ^(I)Sheshbazzar, the leader of Judah. ⁹ Now this was their number: thirty ^(J)gold dishes, a thousand silver dishes, twenty nine ^[g]duplicates; ¹⁰ thirty gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind, and a thousand other articles. ¹¹ All the articles of gold and silver totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Number of Those Returning

2 ^(K)Now these are the ^[h]people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken into exile to Babylon, and they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city. ^2 [i]These came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, ^[j]Seraiah, ^[k]Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, ^[l]Mispar, Bigvai, ^[m]Rehum, and Baanah.

This is the number of the men of the people of Israel: ³ the sons of Parosh, 2,172; ⁴ the sons of Shephatiah, 372; ⁵ the sons of ^(L)Arah, 775; ⁶ the sons of ^(M)Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812; ⁷ the sons of Elam, 1,254; ⁸ the sons of Zattu, 945; ⁹ the sons of Zaccai, 760; ¹⁰ the sons of ^[n]Bani, 642; ¹¹ the sons of Bebai, 623; ¹² the sons of Azgad, 1,222; ¹³ the sons of ^(N)Adonikam, 666; ¹⁴ the sons of Bigvai, 2,056; ¹⁵ the sons of Adin, 454; ¹⁶ the sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, 98; ¹⁷ the sons of Bezai, 323; ¹⁸ the sons of ^[o]Jorah, 112; ¹⁹ the sons of Hashum, 223; ²⁰ the sons of ^[p]Gibbar, 95; ²¹ the ^[q]men of ^(O)Bethlehem, 123; ²² the men of Netophah, 56; ²³ the men of Anathoth, 128; ²⁴ the sons of ^[r]Azmaveth, 42; ²⁵ the sons of ^[s]Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743; ²⁶ the sons of ^(P)Ramah and Geba, 621; ²⁷ the men of Michmas, 122; ²⁸ the men of Bethel and Ai, 223; ²⁹ the sons of Nebo, 52; ³⁰ the sons of Magbish, 156; ³¹ the sons of the other Elam, 1,254; ³² the sons of Harim, 320; ³³ the sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725; ³⁴ the ^[t]men of ^(Q)Jericho, 345; ³⁵ the sons of Senaah, 3,630.

Priests Returning

^36 (R)The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973; ³⁷ the sons of ^(S)Immer, 1,052; ^38 (T)the sons of Pashhur, 1,247; ³⁹ the sons of ^(U)Harim, 1,017.

Levites Returning

⁴⁰ The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of ^[u]Hodaviah, 74. ⁴¹ The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128. ⁴² The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, 139 in all.

⁴³ The ^(V)temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁴ the sons of Keros, the sons of ^[v]Siaha, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁵ the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, ⁴⁶ the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, the sons of Hanan, ⁴⁷ the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, ⁴⁸ the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, ⁴⁹ the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, ⁵⁰ the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of ^[w]Nephisim, ⁵¹ the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵² the sons of ^[x]Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵³ the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁴ the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁵ The sons of ^(W)Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of ^[y]Hassophereth, the sons of ^[z]Peruda, ⁵⁶ the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁷ the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of ^[aa]Ami.

⁵⁸ All the ^(X)temple servants and the sons of ^(Y)Solomon’s servants totaled 392.

⁵⁹ Now these were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, ^[ab]Addan, and Immer, but they were not able to ^[ac]provide evidence of their fathers’ households and their ^[ad]descendants, whether they were of Israel: ⁶⁰ the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652.

Priests Removed

⁶¹ Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of ^(Z)Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was called by their name. ⁶² These searched among their genealogical registration but they could not be located; ^(AA)so they were considered defiled and excluded from the priesthood. ⁶³ The ^[ae]governor said to them ^(AB)that they were not to eat from the most holy things until a priest stood up with ^(AC)Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁴ The whole assembly together totaled 42,360, ⁶⁵ besides their male and female slaves ^[af]who totaled 7,337; and they had two hundred ^(AD)singing men and women. ⁶⁶ Their horses numbered 736; their mules, 245; ⁶⁷ their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720.

⁶⁸ Some of the heads of fathers’ households, when they arrived at the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to erect it on its site. ⁶⁹ According to their ability they gave ^(AE)to the treasury for the work sixty-one thousand gold drachmas, five thousand silver minas, and a hundred priestly ^[ag]garments.

^70 (AF)Now the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

²³ Then ^(A)the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made ^(B)four parts: a part to each soldier, and the ^[a]tunic also; but the tunic was seamless, woven ^[b]in one piece. ²⁴ So they said to one another, “^(C)Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.” ^(D)This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “They ^(E)divided My garments among themselves, and they cast ^[c]lots for My clothing.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

^25 (F)Now beside the cross of Jesus stood ^(G)His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and ^(H)Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ So when Jesus saw His mother, and ^(I)the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “^(J)Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into ^(K)his own household.

²⁸ After this, Jesus, ^(L)knowing that all things had already been accomplished, ^(M)in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, “^(N)I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so ^(O)they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. ³⁰ Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “^(P)It is finished!” And He bowed His head and ^(Q)gave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus

³¹ Now then, since it was ^(R)the day of preparation, to prevent ^(S)the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath (^[d]for that Sabbath was a ^(T)high day), the Jews requested of Pilate that their legs be broken, and the bodies be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who was ^(U)crucified with Him; ³³ but after they came to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ³⁴ Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately ^(V)blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has ^(W)testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. ³⁶ For these things took place ^(X)so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “^(Y)Not a bone of Him shall be ^[e]broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, “^(Z)They will look at Him whom they pierced.”

³⁸ Now ^(AA)after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a ^(AB)secret one for ^(AC)fear of the ^[f]Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. ^39 (AD)Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, ^(AE)bringing a ^[g]mixture of ^(AF)myrrh and aloes, about a ^[h](AG)hundred litras weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and ^(AH)bound it in ^(AI)linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a ^(AJ)new tomb ^(AK)in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² Therefore because of the Jewish day of ^(AL)preparation, since the tomb was ^(AM)nearby, they laid Jesus there.