Ezra 1-6
International Children’s Bible
Cyrus Helps the Captives Return
1 It was the first year Cyrus was king of Persia. The Lord caused Cyrus to write an announcement and send it everywhere in his kingdom. And he also put it in writing. This happened so the Lord’s message spoken by Jeremiah would come true. The announcement said:
2 This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
The Lord, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me. And he has appointed me to build a Temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Now all of you who are God’s people are free to go to Jerusalem. May your God be with you. And you may build the Temple of the Lord. He is the God of Israel, who is in Jerusalem. 4 Those who stay behind should support anyone who wants to go. Give them silver and gold, supplies and cattle. And give them special gifts for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.
5 Then the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin got ready to go to Jerusalem. So did the priests and the Levites. They were going to Jerusalem to build the Temple of the Lord. God made all these people want to go. 6 All their neighbors helped them. They gave them things made of silver and gold, along with supplies, cattle and valuable gifts. And they gave them the special gifts for the Temple. 7 Also, King Cyrus brought out the bowls and pans that belonged in the Temple of the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar had taken them from Jerusalem. And he had put them in the temple of his own god. 8 Cyrus king of Persia had Mithredath the treasurer get them out. So he made a list of the things for Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
9 There were 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 silver pans, 10 30 gold bowls, 410 matching silver bowls and 1,000 other pieces.
11 There was a total of 5,400 pieces of gold and silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these things along when the captives went from Babylon to Jerusalem.
The Captives Who Returned
2 These are the people of the area who returned from captivity. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken them captive to Babylon. Now they returned to Jerusalem and Judah. Each one went back to his own town. 2 These people returned with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah.
These are the men from Israel: 3 the descendants of Parosh—2,172; 4 the descendants of Shephatiah—372; 5 the descendants of Arah—775; 6 the descendants of Pahath-Moab (through the family of Jeshua and Joab)—2,812; 7 the descendants of Elam—1,254; 8 the descendants of Zattu—945; 9 the descendants of Zaccai—760; 10 the descendants of Bani—642; 11 the descendants of Bebai—623; 12 the descendants of Azgad—1,222; 13 the descendants of Adonikam—666; 14 the descendants of Bigvai—2,056; 15 the descendants of Adin—454; 16 the descendants of Ater (through the family of Hezekiah)—98; 17 the descendants of Bezai—323; 18 the descendants of Jorah—112; 19 the descendants of Hashum—223; 20 the descendants of Gibbar—95.
21 These are the men from the town of Bethlehem—123; 22 from Netophah—56; 23 from Anathoth—128; 24 from Azmaveth—42; 25 from Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth—743; 26 from Ramah and Geba—621; 27 from Micmash—122; 28 from Bethel and Ai—223; 29 from Nebo—52; 30 from Magbish—156; 31 from the other town of Elam—1,254; 32 from Harim—320; 33 from Lod, Hadid and Ono—725; 34 from Jericho—345; 35 from Senaah—3,630.
36 These are the priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua)—973; 37 the descendants of Immer—1,052; 38 the descendants of Pashhur—1,247; 39 the descendants of Harim—1,017.
40 These are the Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (through the family of Hodaviah)—74.
41 These are the singers: the descendants of Asaph—128.
42 These are the gatekeepers of the Temple: the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai—139.
43 These are the Temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, 44 Keros, Siaha, Padon, 45 Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub, 46 Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan, 47 Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, 48 Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, 49 Uzza, Paseah, Besai, 50 Asnah, Meunim, Nephussim, 51 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, 52 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, 53 Barkos, Sisera, Temah, 54 Neziah and Hatipha.
55 These are the descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda, 56 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel, 57 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Ami.
58 The Temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392.
59 Some people came to Jerusalem from these towns: Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer. But they could not prove that their families came from the family of Israel. Here are their names and their number: 60 the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda—652.
61 And these priests could not prove that their families came from Israel: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai. (He had married a daughter of Barzillai from Gilead and was called by her family name.)
62 These people searched for their family records. But they could not find them. So they could not be priests because they were thought to be unclean. 63 The governor ordered them not to eat any of the food offered to God. First a priest had to settle this matter by using the Urim and Thummim.
64 The total number of those who returned was 42,360. 65 This is not counting their 7,337 male and female servants. They also had 200 men and women singers with them. 66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 67 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
68 That group arrived at the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. Some of the leaders of families gave special offerings. Those offerings were given to rebuild the Temple of God. It would be on the same site as before. 69 Those people gave as much as they could to the treasury. It was to rebuild the Temple. They gave about 1,100 pounds of gold, about 6,000 pounds of silver and 100 pieces of clothing for the priests.
70 All the Israelites settled in their hometowns. The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants, along with some of the other people, settled in their own towns.
Rebuilding the Altar
3 By the seventh month, the Israelites were settled in their hometowns. They met together in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests joined Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel. They began to build the altar of the God of Israel. That’s where they offered burnt offerings just as it is written in the Teachings of Moses. Moses was the man of God. 3 They were afraid of the people living around them. But they still built the altar where it had been before. They offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord morning and evening. 4 Then, to obey what was written, they celebrated the Feast of Shelters. They offered the right number of sacrifices for each day of the festival. 5 After the Feast of Shelters, they had regular sacrifices every day. They had sacrifices for the New Moon and all the festivals commanded by the Lord. Also there were special offerings brought as gifts to the Lord. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to bring burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had not yet been laid.
Rebuilding the Temple
7 Then they gave money to the stoneworkers and carpenters. They also gave food, wine and oil to the cities of Sidon and Tyre. This was so they would float cedar logs from Lebanon to the seacoast town of Joppa. Cyrus king of Persia had given permission for this.
8 It was in the second year after their arrival at the Temple of God in Jerusalem. In the second month Zerubbabel and Jeshua began the work. So did the rest of their fellow priests and Levites. And all who had returned from captivity to Jerusalem began to work. They chose Levites 20 years old and older to be in charge of the building of the Temple of the Lord. 9 These men were in charge of the work of building the Temple of God: Jeshua and his sons and brothers; Kadmiel and his sons who were the descendants of Hodaviah; and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers. They were all Levites.
10 The builders finished laying the foundation of the Temple of the Lord. Then the priests, dressed in their robes, got trumpets. And the Levites, the sons of Asaph, had cymbals. They all took their places. They praised the Lord just as David king of Israel had said to do. 11 With praise and thanksgiving, they sang to the Lord:
“He is good;
his love for Israel continues forever.”
And then all the people shouted loudly, “Praise the Lord! The foundation of his Temple has been laid.” 12 But many of the older priests, Levites and family leaders cried aloud. They had seen the first Temple. Now they saw the foundation of this Temple. But most of the other people were shouting with joy. 13 The people made so much noise no one could tell the difference between the joyful shouting and the sad crying. It could be heard far away.
Enemies of the Rebuilding
4 The people of Judah and Benjamin had enemies. They heard that the returned captives were building a Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 So the enemies came to Zerubbabel and the leaders of the families. The enemies said, “Let us help you build. We are like you. We want to worship your God. We have been offering sacrifices to him since the time of Esarhaddon. He was king of Assyria, and he brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the leaders of Israel answered, “No. You people will not help us build a Temple to our God. We will build it ourselves. It is for the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us to do.”
4 Then the people around them tried to discourage the people of Judah. They tried to make them afraid to build. 5 Their enemies hired others to delay the building plans. This went on during the time Cyrus was king of Persia. And it continued to the time Darius was king of Persia.
More Problems for the Builders
6 When Xerxes became king, those enemies wrote a letter against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 Later Artaxerxes became king of Persia. Then Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and those with them wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in the Aramaic language.
8 Also Rehum the governor and Shimshai the governor’s assistant wrote a letter. It was to Artaxerxes the king. And it was against Jerusalem. It said:
9 This letter is from Rehum the governor, Shimshai the assistant and others. They are judges and important officers. They are over the men who came from Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon. They are over the Elamite people of Susa. 10 And they are over those whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal forced out of their countries. He forced them to move and settle in the city of Samaria. And he forced them to settle in other places west of the Euphrates River.
11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to Artaxerxes:)
To King Artaxerxes.
From your servants who live west of the Euphrates River.
12 King Artaxerxes, you remember the Jews who came to us from you. You should know they have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that evil city that refuses to obey. They are fixing the walls and repairing the foundations of the buildings.
13 Now, King Artaxerxes, you should know what could happen. If Jerusalem is built and its walls are fixed, Jerusalem will pay no taxes of any kind. Then the amount of money your government collects will be less. 14 Since we must be loyal to the government, we don’t want to see the king dishonored. So we are writing to let the king know. 15 We suggest you search the records of the kings who ruled before you. You will find out that the city of Jerusalem refuses to obey. It makes trouble for kings and areas controlled by Persia. Since long ago it has been a place where disobedience started. That is why it was destroyed. 16 We want you to know this, King Artaxerxes. This city should not be rebuilt and its walls fixed. If it is, you will be left with nothing west of the Euphrates River.
17 King Artaxerxes sent this answer:
To Rehum the governor and Shimshai the assistant. To all the people with them living in Samaria. And to those in other places west of the Euphrates.
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent to us has been translated and read to me. 19 I ordered the records to be searched, and it was done. We found that Jerusalem has a long history of disobedience to kings. It has been a place of problems and trouble. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings. They have ruled over the whole area west of the Euphrates. Taxes of all kinds have been paid to them. 21 Now, give an order for those men to stop work. The city of Jerusalem will not be rebuilt until I say so. 22 Make sure you do this. If it continues, it will hurt the government.
23 A copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes sent was read. It was read to Rehum and Shimshai the assistant and the others. Then they quickly went to the Jews in Jerusalem. They forced them to stop building.
24 So the work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem stopped. It stopped until the second year Darius was king of Persia.
Tattenai’s Letter to Darius
5 Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo were prophets. They prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied in the name of the God of Israel. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak started working again. They worked to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were there, helping them.
3 At that time Tattenai was the governor west of the Euphrates. He and Shethar-Bozenai and others went to the Jews. They asked, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and fix these walls?” 4 They also asked, “What are the names of these men working on this building?” 5 But their God was watching over the elders of the Jews. The builders were not stopped until a report could go to King Darius. And then his written answer had to be received.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, Shethar-Bozenai and the others sent to King Darius. Tattenai was governor west of the Euphrates River. The other people were important officers west of the Euphrates. 7 This is what the report they sent to him said:
To King Darius.
Greetings. May you have peace.
8 King Darius, you should know that we went to the district of Judah. That is where the Temple of the great God is. The people there are building that Temple with large stones. They are putting timbers in the walls. The people are working very hard. And they are building very fast.
9 We asked their elders, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and these walls?” 10 We also asked for their names. We wrote down the names of their leaders so you would know who they are.
11 This is the answer they gave to us: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the Temple that a great king of Israel built. He finished it many years ago. 12 But our ancestors made the God of heaven angry. So God let them be defeated by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He destroyed this Temple. And he took the people to Babylon as captives.
13 “Later, Cyrus was in his first year as king of Babylon. He gave a special order for this Temple to be rebuilt. 14 And Cyrus brought out things from the temple in Babylon. They were the gold and silver bowls and pans that came from the Temple of God. Nebuchadnezzar had taken them from the Temple in Jerusalem. And he had put them in the temple in Babylon.
“Then King Cyrus gave them to Sheshbazzar. He had appointed Sheshbazzar as governor. 15 Cyrus said to him, ‘Take these gold and silver bowls and pans. Put them back in the Temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the Temple of God where it was.’ 16 So Sheshbazzar came. He laid the foundations of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. From that day until now the work has been going on. But it is not yet finished.”
17 Now, if the king wishes, let a search be made. Search the royal records of Babylon to see if King Cyrus gave such an order. See if he gave an order to rebuild this Temple in Jerusalem. Then let the king write us and tell us what he has decided.
The Order of Darius
6 So King Darius gave an order to search the records. They were kept in the treasury in Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the capital city, Ecbatana. It is in the area of Media. This is what was written on it:
Note:
3 King Cyrus gave an order about the Temple of God in Jerusalem. This was in the first year he was king. This was the order:
“Let the Temple be rebuilt. It will be a place to present sacrifices. Let its foundations be laid. The Temple should be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide. 4 It must have three layers of large stones, then one layer of timbers. The costs should be paid from the king’s treasury. 5 The gold and silver things from the Temple of God should be put back in their places. Nebuchadnezzar took those things from the Temple in Jerusalem. And he brought them to Babylon. They are to be put back in the Temple of God in Jerusalem.”
6 Now then, I, Darius, give this order to you, Tattenai, governor west of the Euphrates. And I give it to Shethar-Bozenai and all the officers of that area. Stay away from there. 7 Do not bother or interrupt the work on that Temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this Temple. Let them build it where it was before.
8 Also, I order you to do this for those elders of the Jews. They are building this Temple. The cost of the building is to be fully paid from the royal treasury. The money will come from taxes collected west of the Euphrates River. Do this so the work will not stop. 9 Give those people anything they need. Give them young bulls, male sheep or male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven. Give them wheat, salt, wine or olive oil. Give the priests in Jerusalem anything they ask for. Give it every day without fail. 10 Then they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven. And they can pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11 Also, I give this order: If anyone changes this order, a wood beam is to be pulled from his house. Drive one end of the beam through his body. And because he did this crime, make his house a pile of ruins. 12 God has chosen Jerusalem as the place he is to be worshiped. May he defeat any king or person who tries to change this order. May God destroy anyone who tries to destroy this Temple.
I, Darius, have given this order. Let it be obeyed quickly and carefully.
Completion of the Temple
13 So, Tattenai, the governor west of the Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai and the others obeyed. They carried out King Darius’ order quickly and carefully. 14 So the Jewish elders continued to build. And they were successful because of the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building the Temple as the God of Israel had said. It was also done to obey the kings Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes of Persia. 15 The Temple was finished on the third day of the month Adar. It was the sixth year that Darius was king.
16 Then the people of Israel celebrated. They gave the Temple to God to honor him. Everybody was happy: the priests, the Levites and the rest of the Jews who had returned from captivity. 17 This is how they gave the Temple to God for worshiping him: They offered 100 bulls, 200 male sheep and 400 male lambs as sacrifices. And as an offering to forgive the sins of all Israel, they offered 12 male goats. That is 1 goat for each tribe in Israel. 18 Then they put the priests and the Levites into their separate groups. Each group had a certain time to serve God in the Temple at Jerusalem. This was done just as it is written in the Book of Moses.
The Passover
19 The Jews who returned from captivity celebrated the Passover. This was on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20 The priests and Levites had made themselves clean. The Levites killed the Passover lambs for all the Jews who had returned from captivity. They also did it for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21 So all the people of Israel who returned from captivity ate the Passover lamb. So did those who had given up the unclean ways of their non-Jewish neighbors. They worshiped the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread in a very joyful way. The Lord had made them happy by changing the mind of the King of Assyria. So the king had helped them in the work on the Temple of the God of Israel.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
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