End of the Babylonian Captivity

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

² “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:^[a] The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; ⁴ and let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.”

⁵ Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, every one whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem; ⁶ and all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. ⁷ Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord which Nebuchadnez′zar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. ⁸ Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in charge of Mith′redath the treasurer, who counted them out to Shesh-baz′zar the prince of Judah. ⁹ And this was the number of them: a thousand^[b] basins of gold, a thousand basins of silver, twenty-nine censers, ¹⁰ thirty bowls of gold, two thousand^[c] four hundred and ten bowls of silver, and a thousand other vessels; ¹¹ all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine.^[d] All these did Shesh-baz′zar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

List of the Returned Exiles

2 Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnez′zar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia; they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. ² They came with Zerub′babel, Jeshua, Nehemi′ah, Serai′ah, Reel-ai′ah, Mor′decai, Bilshan, Mispar, Big′vai, Rehum, and Ba′anah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: ³ the sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two. ⁴ The sons of Shephati′ah, three hundred and seventy-two. ⁵ The sons of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five. ⁶ The sons of Pa′hath-mo′ab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Jo′ab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve. ⁷ The sons of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ⁸ The sons of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five. ⁹ The sons of Zac′cai, seven hundred and sixty. ¹⁰ The sons of Bani, six hundred and forty-two. ¹¹ The sons of Be′bai, six hundred and twenty-three. ¹² The sons of Azgad, one thousand two hundred and twenty-two. ¹³ The sons of Adoni′kam, six hundred and sixty-six. ¹⁴ The sons of Big′vai, two thousand and fifty-six. ¹⁵ The sons of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four. ¹⁶ The sons of Ater, namely of Hezeki′ah, ninety-eight. ¹⁷ The sons of Be′zai, three hundred and twenty-three. ¹⁸ The sons of Jorah, one hundred and twelve. ¹⁹ The sons of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three. ²⁰ The sons of Gibbar, ninety-five. ²¹ The sons of Bethlehem, one hundred and twenty-three. ²² The men of Neto′phah, fifty-six. ²³ The men of An′athoth, one hundred and twenty-eight. ²⁴ The sons of Az′maveth, forty-two. ²⁵ The sons of Kir′iathar′im, Chephi′rah, and Be-er′oth, seven hundred and forty-three. ²⁶ The sons of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one. ²⁷ The men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two. ²⁸ The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three. ²⁹ The sons of Nebo, fifty-two. ³⁰ The sons of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six. ³¹ The sons of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ³² The sons of Harim, three hundred and twenty. ³³ The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five. ³⁴ The sons of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five. ³⁵ The sons of Sena′ah, three thousand six hundred and thirty.

³⁶ The priests: the sons of Jedai′ah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three. ³⁷ The sons of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two. ³⁸ The sons of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven. ³⁹ The sons of Harim, one thousand and seventeen.

⁴⁰ The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kad′mi-el, of the sons of Hodavi′ah, seventy-four. ⁴¹ The singers: the sons of Asaph, one hundred and twenty-eight. ⁴² The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hati′ta, and the sons of Sho′bai, in all one hundred and thirty-nine.

⁴³ The temple servants:^[e] the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasu′pha, the sons of Tabba′oth, ⁴⁴ the sons of Keros, the sons of Si′aha, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁵ the sons of Leba′nah, the sons of Hag′abah, the sons of Akkub, ⁴⁶ the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, ⁴⁷ the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Re-ai′ah, ⁴⁸ the sons of Rezin, the sons of Neko′da, the sons of Gazzam, ⁴⁹ the sons of Uzza, the sons of Pase′ah, the sons of Besai, ⁵⁰ the sons of Asnah, the sons of Me-u′nim, the sons of Nephi′sim, ⁵¹ the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Haku′pha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵² the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehi′da, the sons of Harsha, ⁵³ the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sis′era, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁴ the sons of Nezi′ah, and the sons of Hati′pha.

⁵⁵ The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of So′tai, the sons of Hasso′phereth, the sons of Peru′da, ⁵⁶ the sons of Ja′alah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁷ the sons of Shephati′ah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Po′chereth-hazzeba′im, and the sons of Ami.

⁵⁸ All the temple servants^[f] and the sons of Solomon’s servants were three hundred and ninety-two.

⁵⁹ The following were those who came up from Tel-me′lah, Tel-har′sha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶⁰ the sons of Delai′ah, the sons of Tobi′ah, and the sons of Neko′da, six hundred and fifty-two. ⁶¹ Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habai′ah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzil′lai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzil′lai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). ⁶² These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean; ⁶³ the governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁴ The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, ⁶⁵ besides their menservants and maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred male and female singers. ⁶⁶ Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules were two hundred and forty-five, ⁶⁷ their camels were four hundred and thirty-five, and their asses were six thousand seven hundred and twenty.

⁶⁸ Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site; ⁶⁹ according to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work sixty-one thousand darics of gold, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.

⁷⁰ The priests, the Levites, and some of the people lived in Jerusalem and its vicinity;^[g] and the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all Israel in their towns.

The Command to Rebuild the Temple

1 In the second year of Dari′us the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerub′babel the son of She-al′ti-el, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jeho′zadak, the high priest, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: This people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” ³ Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, ⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? ⁵ Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. ⁶ You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes.

⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. ⁸ Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may appear in my glory, says the Lord. ⁹ You have looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while you busy yourselves each with his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ And I have called for a drought upon the land and the hills, upon the grain, the new wine, the oil, upon what the ground brings forth, upon men and cattle, and upon all their labors.”

¹² Then Zerub′babel the son of She-al′ti-el, and Joshua the son of Jeho′zadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared before the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, says the Lord.” ¹⁴ And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerub′babel the son of She-al′ti-el, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jeho′zadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.

The Future Glory of the Temple

2 In the second year of Dari′us the king, ¹ in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, ² “Speak now to Zerub′babel the son of She-al′ti-el, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jeho′zadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, ³ ‘Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? ⁴ Yet now take courage, O Zerub′babel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jeho′zadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, ⁵ according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit abides among you; fear not. ⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; ⁷ and I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. ⁸ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. ⁹ The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.’”

A Rebuke and a Promise

¹⁰ On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Dari′us, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, ¹¹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests to decide this question, ¹² ‘If one carries holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and touches with his skirt bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered, “No.” ¹³ Then said Haggai, “If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It does become unclean.” ¹⁴ Then Haggai said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, says the Lord; and so with every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. ¹⁵ Pray now, consider what will come to pass from this day onward. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the temple of the Lord, ¹⁶ how did you fare?^[a] When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. ¹⁷ I smote you and all the products of your toil with blight and mildew and hail; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. ¹⁸ Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider: ¹⁹ Is the seed yet in the barn? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing? From this day on I will bless you.”

God’s Promise to Zerubbabel

²⁰ The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, ²¹ “Speak to Zerub′babel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, ²² and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders; and the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his fellow. ²³ On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerub′babel my servant, the son of She-al′ti-el, says the Lord, and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts.”