19 The exiles(A) observed the Passover(B) 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.(C) 21 The Israelites who had returned from exile(D) ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land[a](E) in order to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel. 22 They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days(F) with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them[b] in the work on the house of the God of Israel.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 6:21 Lit land to them
  2. Ezra 6:22 Lit their hands

The First Post-Captivity Passover(A)

19 [a]The former exiles[b] observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month 20 because the priests and descendants of Levi had purified themselves together—all of them were pure—and they killed the Passover lamb[c] for every former exile,[d] for their relatives the priests, and for themselves.

21 So the Israelis who had returned from captivity ate the Passover with all who had consecrated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel. 22 Then they observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them glad, turning the heart of the king of Assyria toward them and strengthening them for their work on the Temple of God, the God of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 6:19 At this point, the text of MT reverts to Heb.
  2. Ezra 6:19 Lit. The sons of the captivity
  3. Ezra 6:20 The Heb. lacks lamb
  4. Ezra 6:20 Lit. for all of the sons of the captivity