The Decree of Cyrus

In(A) the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,[a] the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled.(B) The Lord put it into the mind(C) of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.(D) Whoever is among His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel,(E) the God who is in Jerusalem. Let every survivor,(F) wherever he lives, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

Return from Exile

So the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone God had motivated[b](G)—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. All their neighbors supported them[c](H) with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.(I) King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.(J) This was the inventory:

30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins,
29 silver knives, 10 30 gold bowls,
410 various[d] silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.

11 The gold and silver articles totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of them when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 1:1 Cyrus reigned 559–530 b.c.
  2. Ezra 1:5 Lit everyone whose spirit God had stirred
  3. Ezra 1:6 Lit supported their hands
  4. Ezra 1:10 Or similar

An Edict to Rebuild the Temple(A)

During the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the message from the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord prompted[a] Cyrus, king of Persia, to make this proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, which was also released in written form:

An Official Statement

from[b] Cyrus, King of Persia

All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the Lord God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple[c] for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, who among the Lord’s[d] people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem of Judah to rebuild the Temple of the Lord[e] God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem. Furthermore, everyone who wishes to repatriate[f] from any territory where he now resides is to receive assistance from his fellow residents in the form of silver, gold, equipment, and pack animals, in addition to voluntary offerings for the Temple of the God of Jerusalem.

In response, the heads of the families[g] of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and descendants of Levi, and all those who had been prompted[h] by God, prepared to travel to rebuild the Temple of the Lord, which was in Jerusalem. So all of their neighbors equipped the travelers[i] with silver, gold, equipment, pack animals, and valuable goods, in addition to voluntary offerings.

Temple Instruments Returned

King Cyrus also brought out from storage[j] the service instruments from the Temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his gods.[k] Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out to Mithredath the Treasurer, had them inventoried, and had them placed in care of[l] Sheshbazzar,[m] governor of Judah. Here is a partial inventory:[n]

Gold dishes: 30

Silver dishes: 1,000

Sacrificial knives: 29

10 Gold bowls: 30

Silver bowls of another kind:[o] 410

Miscellaneous instruments: 1,000

11 The complete inventory of gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar[p] brought them all to Jerusalem, along with the exiles from Babylon.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 1:1 Lit. stirred up the spirit of
  2. Ezra 1:2 Lit. Thus says
  3. Ezra 1:2 Or house, and so throughout the book
  4. Ezra 1:3 Lit. among all of his
  5. Ezra 1:3 Lit. of his Lord
  6. Ezra 1:4 Lit. who remains
  7. Ezra 1:5 Lit. fathers
  8. Ezra 1:5 Lit. all whose spirit had been stirred up
  9. Ezra 1:6 Lit. strengthened their hands
  10. Ezra 1:7 The Heb. lacks from storage
  11. Ezra 1:7 LXX his god
  12. Ezra 1:8 Lit. Treasurer, and numbered them to
  13. Ezra 1:8 I.e. Zerubbabel; Sheshbazzar is the Persian equivalent (cf. 2:2)
  14. Ezra 1:9 Lit. This was their number
  15. Ezra 1:10 Lit. of a second
  16. Ezra 1:11 I.e. Zerubbabel; Sheshbazzar is the Persian equivalent (cf. 2:2)