Historical
The Decree of Cyrus
1 In(A) the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfil 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 neighbours 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:
30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins,
29 silver knives, 10 30 gold bowls,
410 various[b] silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.
11 The gold and silver articles totalled 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
Ziha’s descendants, Hasupha’s descendants,
Tabbaoth’s descendants, 44 Keros’s descendants,
Siaha’s descendants, Padon’s descendants,
45 Lebanah’s descendants, Hagabah’s descendants,
Akkub’s descendants, 46 Hagab’s descendants,
Shalmai’s[e] descendants, Hanan’s descendants,
47 Giddel’s descendants, Gahar’s descendants,
Reaiah’s descendants, 48 Rezin’s descendants,
Nekoda’s descendants, Gazzam’s descendants,
49 Uzza’s descendants, Paseah’s descendants,
Besai’s descendants, 50 Asnah’s descendants,
Meunim’s[f] descendants, Nephusim’s[g] descendants,
51 Bakbuk’s descendants, Hakupha’s descendants,
Harhur’s descendants, 52 Bazluth’s descendants,
Mehida’s descendants, Harsha’s descendants,
53 Barkos’s descendants, Sisera’s descendants,
Temah’s descendants, 54 Neziah’s descendants,
and Hatipha’s descendants.
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] 3 tonnes[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)
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