The Decree of Cyrus

1 In^(A) the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah,^(B) the Lord roused the spirit^(C) of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

² This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.^{(D) 3} Any of his people among you, 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. ⁴ Let every survivor,^(F) wherever he resides, 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

⁵ So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had roused^(G)—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. ⁶ All their neighbors supported them^[a](H) with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. ⁷ 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) 8} 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) 9} This was the inventory:

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

The Exiles Who Returned

2 These^(K) now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon^[c] had deported to Babylon.^(L) They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. ² They came with Zerubbabel,^(M) Jeshua,^(N) Nehemiah, Seraiah,^(O) Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the Israelite men included^[d]

3 Parosh’s descendants(P)	2,172
4 Shephatiah’s descendants	372
5 Arah’s descendants	775
6 Pahath-moab’s descendants:
Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants	2,812
7 Elam’s descendants	1,254
8 Zattu’s descendants	945
9 Zaccai’s descendants	760
10 Bani’s descendants	642
11 Bebai’s descendants	623
12 Azgad’s descendants	1,222
13 Adonikam’s descendants(Q)	666
14 Bigvai’s descendants	2,056
15 Adin’s descendants	454
16 Ater’s descendants: of Hezekiah	98
17 Bezai’s descendants	323
18 Jorah’s descendants	112
19 Hashum’s descendants	223
20 Gibbar’s descendants	95
21 Bethlehem’s(R) people	123
22 Netophah’s men	56
23 Anathoth’s men	128
24 Azmaveth’s people	42
25 Kiriatharim’s, Chephirah’s, and Beeroth’s people	743
26 Ramah’s(S) and Geba’s people	621
27 Michmas’s men	122
28 Bethel’s and Ai’s(T) men	223
29 Nebo’s people	52
30 Magbish’s people	156
31 the other Elam’s people	1,254
32 Harim’s people	320
33 Lod’s, Hadid’s, and Ono’s people	725
34 Jericho’s(U) people	345
35 Senaah’s people	3,630

³⁶ The priests included

Jedaiah’s descendants of the house of Jeshua	973
37 Immer’s descendants	1,052
38 Pashhur’s descendants	1,247
39 and Harim’s descendants	1,017

⁴⁰ The Levites included

Jeshua’s and Kadmiel’s descendants
from Hodaviah’s descendants	74

⁴¹ The singers included

Asaph’s(V) descendants

128

⁴² The gatekeepers’^(W) descendants included

Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants,
Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants,
Hatita’s descendants, Shobai’s descendants, in all	139

⁴³ The temple servants^(X) included

⁵⁵ The descendants of Solomon’s servants^(Y) included

Sotai’s descendants, Hassophereth’s descendants,
Peruda’s descendants, 56 Jaalah’s descendants,
Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,
57 Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants,
Pochereth-hazzebaim’s descendants, and Ami’s descendants.
58 All the temple servants
and the descendants of Solomon’s servants	392.

⁵⁹ The following are those who came from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer but were unable to prove that their ancestral families^[h] and their lineage were Israelite:

60 Delaiah’s descendants,
Tobiah’s descendants,
Nekoda’s descendants	652

⁶¹ and from the descendants of the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, the descendants of Barzillai—who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and who bore their name. ⁶² These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood. ⁶³ The governor^(Z) ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.^(AA)

64 The whole combined assembly numbered	42,360
65 not including their 7,337 male and female servants,
and their 200 male and female singers.(AB)
66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules,
67 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

Gifts for the Work

⁶⁸ After they arrived at the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, some of the family heads gave freewill offerings^(AC) for the house of God in order to have it rebuilt on its original site. ⁶⁹ Based on what they could give, they gave 61,000 gold coins,^[i] 6,250 pounds^[j] of silver, and 100 priestly garments to the treasury^(AD) for the project. ⁷⁰ The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, and some of the people settled in their towns, and the rest of Israel settled in their towns.^(AE)

Sacrifice Restored

3 When the seventh month arrived,^(AF) and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered as one in Jerusalem.^{(AG) 2} Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel^(AH) and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel’s God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.^{(AI) 3} They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.^{(AJ) 4} They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.^{(AK) 5} After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month^[k](AL) and for all the Lord’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to^[l] the Lord.

⁶ On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord,^(AM) even though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid. ⁷ They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they would bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea,^(AN) according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.^(AO)

Rebuilding the Temple

⁸ In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak,^(AP) and the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began to build. They appointed the Levites who were twenty years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord’s house.^{(AQ) 9} Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah^[m] and of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites,^(AR) joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

Temple Foundation Completed

¹⁰ When the builders had laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple, the priests, dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph,^(AS) holding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord, as King David of Israel had instructed.^{(AT) 11} They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For he is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever.”^(AU) Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid.^(AV)

¹² But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple,^(AW) but many others shouted joyfully. ¹³ The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the^[n] weeping,^(AX) because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.

Opposition to Rebuilding the Temple

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin^(AY) heard that the returned exiles^[o](AZ) were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the family heads and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to him^[p] since the time King Esar-haddon of Assyria brought us here.”^(BA)

³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of Israel’s families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God,^(BB) since we alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”^{(BC) 4} Then the people who were already in the land^[q] discouraged^[r] the people of Judah and made them afraid^(BD) to build. ⁵ They also bribed officials to act against them to frustrate their plans^(BE) throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.^(BF)

Opposition to Rebuilding the City

⁶ At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus,^(BG) the people who were already in the land^(BH) wrote an accusation against the residents of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷ During the time of King Artaxerxes of Persia,^(BI) Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to King Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic^(BJ) and translated.^[s]

⁸ Rehum the chief deputy and Shimshai the scribe^(BK) wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes concerning Jerusalem as follows:

⁹ From Rehum^[t] the chief deputy, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues—the judges and magistrates^[u] from Tripolis, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa^(BL) (that is, the people of Elam),^{[v] 10} and the rest of the peoples whom the great and illustrious Ashurbanipal^[w] deported and settled in the cities of Samaria^(BM) and the region west of the Euphrates River.^(BN)

¹¹ This is the text of the letter they sent to him:

To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men from the region west of the Euphrates River:

¹² Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you have returned to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and evil city, finishing its walls, and repairing its foundations. ¹³ Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are finished,^(BO) they will not pay tribute, duty, or land tax,^(BP) and the royal revenue^[x] will suffer. ¹⁴ Since we have taken an oath of loyalty to the king,^[y] and it is not right for us to witness his dishonor, we have sent to inform the king ¹⁵ that a search should be made in your predecessors’ record books.^(BQ) In these record books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces. There have been revolts in it since ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. ¹⁶ We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will not have any possession west of the Euphrates.

Artaxerxes’s Reply

¹⁷ The king sent a reply to his chief deputy Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates River:

Greetings.

¹⁸ The letter you sent us has been translated and read^[z](BR) in my presence. ¹⁹ I issued a decree and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has had uprisings against kings since ancient times, and there have been rebellions and revolts in it. ²⁰ Powerful kings have also ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates River, and tribute, duty, and land tax were paid to them. ²¹ Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a further decree has been pronounced by me.^{(BS) 22} See that you not neglect this matter. Otherwise, the damage will increase and the royal interests^[aa] will suffer.

²³ As soon as the text of King Artaxerxes’s letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues,^(BT) they immediately went to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

Rebuilding of the Temple Resumed

²⁴ Now the construction of God’s house in Jerusalem had stopped and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.^(BU)

5 But when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo^(BV) prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them, ² Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak^(BW) began to rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. The prophets of God^(BX) were with them, helping them.

³ At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues^(BY) came to the Jews and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” ^{[ab](BZ) 4} They also asked them, “What are the names of the workers^[ac] who are constructing this building?” ⁵ But God was watching^[ad] over^(CA) the Jewish elders. These men wouldn’t stop them until a report was sent to Darius, so that they could receive written instructions about this matter.

The Letter to Darius

⁶ This is the text of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues, the officials in the region, sent to King Darius. ⁷ They sent him a report, written as follows:

To King Darius:

All greetings.

⁸ Let it be known to the king that we went to the house of the great God in the province of Judah. It is being built with cut^[ae] stones, and its beams are being set in the walls. This work is being done diligently and succeeding through the people’s efforts.^{(CB) 9} So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” ¹⁰ We also asked them for their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

¹¹ This is the reply they gave us:

We are the servants of the God of the heavens and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.^{(CC) 12} But since our ancestors angered the God of the heavens, he handed them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.^{(CD) 13} However, in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, he issued a decree to rebuild the house of God.^{(CE) 14} He also took from the temple in Babylon the gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and carried them to the temple in Babylon.^(CF) He released them from the temple in Babylon to a man named Sheshbazzar, the governor by the appointment of King Cyrus.^{(CG) 15} Cyrus told him, “Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.”^{(CH) 16} Then this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of God’s house in Jerusalem.^(CI) It has been under construction from that time until now,^(CJ) but it has not been completed.

¹⁷ So if it pleases the king, let a search of the royal archives^[af] in Babylon be conducted to see if it is true that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem.^(CK) Let the king’s decision regarding this matter be sent to us.^(CL)

Darius’s Search

6 King Darius gave the order, and they searched^(CM) in the library of Babylon in the archives.^{[ag](CN) 2} But it was in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Media^(CO) that a scroll was found with this record written on it:

³ In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree^(CP) concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:

Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained.^[ah] Its height is to be ninety feet^[ai] and its width ninety feet,^{(CQ) 4} with three layers of cut^[aj] stones and one of timber.^(CR) The cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.^{[ak](CS) 5} The gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon must also be returned. They are to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem where they belong^[al] and put into the house of God.^(CT)

Darius’s Decree

⁶ Therefore, you must stay away from that place, Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your^[am] colleagues, the officials in the region.^{(CU) 7} Leave the construction of the house of God alone. Let the governor^(CV) and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

⁸ I hereby issue a decree concerning what you are to do, so that the elders of the Jews can rebuild the house of God:

The cost is to be paid in full to these men out of the royal revenues^(CW) from the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that the work will not stop. ⁹ Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of the heavens, or wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given to them every day without fail,^{(CX) 10} so that they can offer sacrifices of pleasing aroma to the God of the heavens and pray for the life of the king and his sons.^(CY)

¹¹ I also issue a decree concerning any man who interferes with this directive:

Let a beam be torn from his house and raised up; he will be impaled on it, and his house will be made into a garbage dump because of this offense.^{(CZ) 12} May the God who caused his name to dwell there^(DA) overthrow any king or people who dares^[an] to harm or interfere with this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.

¹³ Then Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues^(DB) diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed. ¹⁴ So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo.^(DC) They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,^(DD) Darius, and King Artaxerxes^(DE) of Persia. ¹⁵ This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar^(DF) in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Temple Dedication and the Passover

¹⁶ Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. ¹⁷ For the dedication of God’s house they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, as well as twelve male goats^(DG) as a sin offering for all Israel—one for each Israelite tribe. ¹⁸ They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the book of Moses.^(DH)

¹⁹ The exiles^(DI) observed the Passover^(DJ) on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²⁰ All of the priests and Levites were ceremonially clean, because they had purified themselves. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves, their priestly brothers, and all the exiles.^{(DK) 21} The Israelites who had returned from exile^(DL) ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land^[ao](DM) in order to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. ²² They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days^(DN) with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them^[ap] in the work on the house of the God of Israel.^(DO)

Psalm 137

Lament of the Exiles