Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin,(A) and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved(B)—prepared to go up and build the house(C) of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold,(D) 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](E) Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar(F) 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 1:7 Or gods
  2. Ezra 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

32 “We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel[a] each year for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the bread set out on the table;(A) for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon(B) feasts and at the appointed festivals; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings[b] to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.(C)

34 “We—the priests, the Levites and the people—have cast lots(D) to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood(E) to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law.

35 “We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits(F) of our crops and of every fruit tree.(G)

36 “As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn(H) of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.(I)

37 “Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil.(J) And we will bring a tithe(K) of our crops to the Levites,(L) for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work.(M) 38 A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes(N) up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 39 The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept.

“We will not neglect the house of our God.”(O)

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 10:32 That is, about 1/8 ounce or about 4 grams
  2. Nehemiah 10:33 Or purification offerings

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