End of the Babylonian Captivity

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:

all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine. All these did Shesh-baz′zar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

List of the Returned Exiles

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.

then wrote Rehum the commander, Shim′shai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,

But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon, the Chalde′an, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia.

However in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.

And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnez′zar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Shesh-baz′zar, whom he had made governor;

Therefore, if it seem good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

The Decree of Darius

Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored.

And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnez′zar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; you shall put them in the house of God.”

this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord the God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.

for on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was upon him.

with all the silver and gold which you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem.

Heads of Families Who Returned with Ezra

These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Ar-ta-xerx′es the king: