Decreto de Ciro

En el primer año del reinado de Ciro, rey de Persia, el Señor movió el espíritu del rey para que promulgara un decreto en todo su reino y así se cumpliera la palabra del Señor por medio del profeta Jeremías. Tanto oralmente como por escrito, el rey decretó lo siguiente:

«Esto es lo que ordena Ciro, rey de Persia:

»El Señor, Dios del cielo, que me ha dado todos los reinos de la tierra, me ha encargado que le construya un templo en la ciudad de Jerusalén, que está en Judá. Por tanto, cualquiera que pertenezca a Judá, suba a Jerusalén a construir el templo del Señor, Dios de Israel, el Dios que habita en Jerusalén; y que Dios lo acompañe. También ordeno que los habitantes de cada lugar donde haya judíos sobrevivientes los ayuden dándoles plata y oro, bienes y ganado, y ofrendas voluntarias para el templo de Dios en Jerusalén».

El regreso de los judíos

Entonces los jefes de familia de Benjamín y de Judá, junto con los sacerdotes y levitas, es decir, con todos aquellos en cuyo espíritu Dios puso el deseo de construir el templo del Señor, se dispusieron a subir a Jerusalén. Todos sus vecinos los ayudaron con plata y oro, bienes y ganado, objetos valiosos y todo tipo de ofrendas voluntarias.

Además, el rey Ciro hizo sacar los utensilios que Nabucodonosor se había llevado del Templo del Señor en Jerusalén y había depositado en el templo de su dios.[a] Ciro, el rey de Persia, los entregó a su tesorero Mitrídates, el cual los contó y se los pasó a Sesbasar, gobernador de Judá.

El inventario de dichos utensilios fue el siguiente:

tazones de oro30
tazones de plata1,000
cuchillos29
10 tazas de oro30
tazas de plata410
objetos diversos1,000

11 En total fueron cinco mil cuatrocientos los utensilios de oro y de plata.

Todos estos objetos los llevó Sesbasar a Jerusalén cuando a los deportados se les permitió regresar de Babilonia.

Footnotes

  1. 1:7 su dios. Alt. sus dioses.

The Proclamation of Cyrus

(A)In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, (B)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so (C)that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and (D)he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—(E)he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, (F)everyone whose spirit (G)God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. And all who were about them (H)aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. (I)Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that (J)Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of (K)Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to (L)Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them: (M)30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

塞鲁士下令犹太人回国

波斯王塞鲁士元年,耶和华为要应验祂借耶利米所说的话,就感动波斯王塞鲁士,使他下诏通告全国:

“波斯王塞鲁士如此说,‘天上的上帝耶和华已把天下万国都赐给我,祂吩咐我在犹大的耶路撒冷为祂建造殿宇。 你们当中凡是耶和华的子民,都可以去犹大的耶路撒冷,为住在耶路撒冷的以色列的上帝耶和华建殿,愿上帝与他们同在! 凡留下不回国的人,无论住在哪里,都要用金银、财物和牲畜帮助同区那些将要回国的人,此外还要为耶路撒冷的上帝的殿献上自愿献的礼物。’”

于是,犹大和便雅悯的族长、祭司和利未人——所有被上帝感动的人都准备上耶路撒冷重建耶和华的殿。 他们周围的人除了献上自愿献的礼物外,还拿出银器、金子、财物、牲畜和珍宝来支持他们。 巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒曾从耶路撒冷耶和华的殿里带回珍贵的器皿,放在自己神明的庙里。波斯王塞鲁士将这些器皿取出来, 派财政大臣米提利达如数交给犹大的首领设巴萨: 三十个金盘、一千个银盘、二十九把刀、 10 三十个金碗、四百一十个次等银碗及一千件其他器皿, 11 共有五千四百件金银器皿。被掳者从巴比伦上耶路撒冷时,设巴萨把这些器皿一并带去。

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.