The Proclamation of Cyrus

1 ^(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:

² “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. ³ 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. ⁴ 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.”

⁵ 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. ⁶ 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. ^7 (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. ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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.

The Exiles Return

2 ^(N)Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles ^(O)whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. ² They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, ^(P)Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: ^3 (Q)the sons of Parosh, 2,172. ⁴ The sons of Shephatiah, 372. ⁵ The sons of Arah, 775. ⁶ The sons of Pahath-moab, namely 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 Bani, 642. ¹¹ The sons of Bebai, 623. ¹² The sons of Azgad, 1,222. ¹³ The sons of Adonikam, 666. ¹⁴ The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. ¹⁵ The sons of Adin, 454. ¹⁶ The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. ¹⁷ The sons of Bezai, 323. ¹⁸ The sons of Jorah, 112. ¹⁹ The sons of Hashum, 223. ²⁰ The sons of Gibbar, 95. ²¹ The sons of Bethlehem, 123. ²² The men of Netophah, 56. ²³ The men of Anathoth, 128. ²⁴ The sons of Azmaveth, 42. ²⁵ The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. ²⁶ The sons of 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 ^(R)the other Elam, 1,254. ³² The sons of Harim, 320. ³³ The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. ³⁴ The sons of Jericho, 345. ³⁵ The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

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

⁴⁰ The Levites: the sons of ^(U)Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. ⁴¹ The singers: the sons of ^(V)Asaph, 128. ⁴² The sons of the ^(W)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, in all 139.

^43 (X)The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁴ the sons of Keros, the sons of 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 Shamlai, 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 Nephisim, ⁵¹ the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵² the sons of 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 (Y)The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of 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 Ami.

⁵⁸ All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392.

⁵⁹ The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, ^(Z)though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶⁰ the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. ⁶¹ Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of ^(AA)Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). ⁶² These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and ^(AB)so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. ⁶³ The ^(AC)governor told them that they were not ^(AD)to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult ^(AE)Urim and Thummim.

^64 (AF)The whole assembly together was 42,360, ⁶⁵ besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female ^(AG)singers. ⁶⁶ Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, ⁶⁷ their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.

^68 (AH)Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. ⁶⁹ According to their ability they gave to ^(AI)the treasury of the work 61,000 darics^[a] of gold, 5,000 minas^[b] of silver, and 100 priests' garments.

^70 (AJ)Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel^[c] in their towns.

Words of the Wise

The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling ^(A)the seven angels, “Go and ^(B)pour out on the earth ^(C)the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

² So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful ^(D)sores came upon the people who bore ^(E)the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and ^(F)it became like the blood of a corpse, and ^(G)every living thing died that was in the sea.

⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl into ^(H)the rivers and the springs of water, and ^(I)they became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel in charge of the waters^[a] say,

⁷ And I heard ^(P)the altar saying,

⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people ^(R)with fire. ⁹ They were scorched by the fierce heat, and ^(S)they cursed^[b] the name of God who had power over these plagues. ^(T)They did not repent ^(U)and give him glory.

¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on ^(V)the throne of the beast, and ^(W)its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish ¹¹ and cursed ^(X)the God of heaven for their pain and ^(Y)sores. ^(Z)They did not repent of their deeds.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on ^(AA)the great river Euphrates, and ^(AB)its water was dried up, ^(AC)to prepare the way for the kings ^(AD)from the east. ¹³ And I saw, coming out of the mouth of ^(AE)the dragon and out of the mouth of ^(AF)the beast and out of the mouth of ^(AG)the false prophet, three ^(AH)unclean spirits like ^(AI)frogs. ¹⁴ For they are ^(AJ)demonic spirits, ^(AK)performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, ^(AL)to assemble them for battle on ^(AM)the great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵ (“Behold, ^(AN)I am coming like a thief! ^(AO)Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, ^(AP)that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) ¹⁶ And ^(AQ)they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called ^(AR)Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into ^(AS)the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, ^(AT)“It is done!” ¹⁸ And there were ^(AU)flashes of lightning, rumblings,^[c] peals of thunder, and ^(AV)a great earthquake ^(AW)such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. ^19 (AX)The great city ^(AY)was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God ^(AZ)remembered ^(BA)Babylon the great, ^(BB)to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. ²⁰ And ^(BC)every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. ²¹ And ^(BD)great hailstones, about one hundred pounds^[d] each, fell from heaven on people; and ^(BE)they cursed God for ^(BF)the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17 Then ^(BG)one of the seven angels who had ^(BH)the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^(BI)the great prostitute ^(BJ)who is seated on many waters, ^2 (BK)with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^(BL)with the wine of whose sexual immorality ^(BM)the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” ³ And ^(BN)he carried me away in the Spirit ^(BO)into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^(BP)a scarlet beast that was full of ^(BQ)blasphemous names, and ^(BR)it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(BS)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ^(BT)with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^(BU)a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of ^(BV)mystery: ^(BW)“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk ^(BX)with the blood of the saints, the blood of ^(BY)the martyrs of Jesus.^[e]

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^(BZ)the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw ^(CA)was, and is not, and ^(CB)is about to rise from ^(CC)the bottomless pit^[f] and ^(CD)go to destruction. And ^(CE)the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^(CF)the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^(CG)it was and is not and is to come. ^9 (CH)This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. ¹¹ As for the beast ^(CI)that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹² And ^(CJ)the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^(CK)for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They ^(CL)will make war on the Lamb, and ^(CM)the Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^(CN)Lord of lords and ^(CO)King of kings, and those with him are ^(CP)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And the angel^[g] said to me, ^(CQ)“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And ^(CR)the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^(CS)will hate the prostitute. They will make her ^(CT)desolate and ^(CU)naked, and ^(CV)devour her flesh and ^(CW)burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for ^(CX)God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^(CY)handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is ^(CZ)the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

The Fall of Babylon

18 After this I saw ^(DA)another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^(DB)the earth was made bright with his glory. ² And he called out with a mighty voice,

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

⁹ And ^(DU)the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ^(DV)will weep and wail over her ^(DW)when they see the smoke of her burning. ^10 (DX)They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

¹¹ And ^(EA)the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, ¹² cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, ¹³ cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.^[i]

^15 (EB)The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^(EC)will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

And ^(EG)all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off ¹⁸ and ^(EH)cried out ^(EI)as they saw the smoke of her burning,

¹⁹ And they threw ^(EK)dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

²¹ Then ^(EQ)a mighty angel ^(ER)took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,