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。

'以 斯 拉 記 1 ' not found for the version: Chinese New Testament: Easy-to-Read Version.

The Return from the Exile

Chapter 1

The Decree of Cyrus. In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue the following proclamation throughout his kingdom and also have it put in writing:

“King Cyrus of Persia says this: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and in addition he has designated me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. May God be with all those among you who belong to his people.[a] They are to go up to Jerusalem in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. And let everyone who has survived, and who has settled down to reside in that locale, be assisted by the people of that place with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, in addition to the voluntary offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

Then the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, as well as the priests and Levites—all those whose spirit has been aroused by God—prepared to go forth and rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. All of their neighbors assisted them with gifts of every kind—silver and gold, goods and livestock, and many valuable gifts, in addition to all of their free-will offerings.

Furthermore, King Cyrus himself handed over the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed them in the temple of his gods. Cyrus, the king of Persia, ordered them to be released into the charge of Mithredath, the treasurer, who made a complete inventory of them before turning them over to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.[b]

[c]This was the final inventory: thirty gold dishes; one thousand silver dishes, in addition to twenty-nine others that had been repaired; 10 thirty gold bowls; four hundred and ten silver bowls; one thousand other articles. 11 The final total of all the gold and silver vessels was five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with him when he led the exiles back from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 1:3 Belong to his people: it seems strange that someone who is not a Jew is entrusted with the responsibility to return God’s people to their homeland. Cyrus, who ruled over what was formerly Assyria and Babylon offers immunity to the entire 12 tribes; however, his invitation to rebuild God’s temple is only acknowledged by Judah and Benjamin.
  2. Ezra 1:8 Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah: it is uncertain whether he and Zerubbabel are one and the same because of the custom of giving Babylonian names to Jews in exile. Both are identified as governors of Judah.
  3. Ezra 1:9 The numbers have perhaps been miscopied or are exaggerated.

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.