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。

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.

During the first year of King Cyrus of Persia’s reign in 539 b.c., the Eternal One influenced the spirit of the Persian king to send a proclamation and written letter throughout his empire, fulfilling the Eternal’s earlier message through the prophet Jeremiah.[a]

King Cyrus actually rules the Persian Empire from 559–530 b.c., but it is in 539 b.c. when Persia finishes its conquest of Babylonian territory and Cyrus sends a decree that the Jews might return to Judah.

Cyrus’ Proclamation: The Eternal One, the God of heaven, has decided to give me all the kingdoms of the world to rule as my own. In return for this, He has told me to build Him a new house in Jerusalem of Judah. Any of His people living in my empire may return to Jerusalem of Judah with the help of the Eternal God. There you may rebuild the temple of the Eternal, Israel’s God, with my resources and blessing, because He is the God who lives in Jerusalem. Every Jew who lives here or in any other part of my empire and wishes to return to Jerusalem should be supported by his neighbors. They should give him silver, gold, goods, and cattle for his journey and should send a freewill offering to the True God’s temple in Jerusalem.

The tribal leaders of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and Levites, and everyone motivated in his or her spirit by the True God prepared to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Eternal’s temple. All their neighbors gave them silver, gold, goods, cattle, and valuable things for the journey, just as Cyrus had requested, and sent freewill offerings. 7-8 Even King Cyrus commanded his treasurer, Mithredath, to return the vessels from the Eternal’s temple (which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and stored in his gods’ temple) to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. The vessels included 30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins, 29 extra dishes, 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a different pattern, and 1,000 other articles. 11 Sheshbazzar and the exiles carried a total of 5,400 gold and silver vessels from Babylon to Jerusalem.

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.