The Proclamation of Cyrus
1 aIn the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, bthat the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, 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: The Lord, the cGod of heaven, dhas given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and ehe 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 frebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God gwho is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each hsurvivor, 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 that is in Jerusalem.”
5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that 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 ibrought out the jvessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8 Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to kSheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
The Exiles Return
1 lNow these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles mwhom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with nZerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and oBaanah.
The number of the men of the people of Israel: 3 the sons of pParosh, 2,172. 4 The sons of qShephatiah, 372. 5 The sons of Arah, 775. 6 The sons of rPahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and sJoab, 2,812. 7 The sons of tElam, 1,254. 8 The sons of uZattu, 945. 9 The sons of Zaccai, 760. 10 The sons of Bani, 642. 11 The sons of vBebai, 623. 12 The sons of wAzgad, 1,222. 13 The sons of xAdonikam, 666. 14 The sons of yBigvai, 2,056. 15 The sons of zAdin, 454. 16 The sons of aAter, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 17 The sons of bBezai, 323. 18 The sons of Jorah, 112. 19 The sons of Hashum, 223. 20 The sons of Gibbar, 95. 21 The sons of Bethlehem, 123. 22 The men of Netophah, 56. 23 The men of Anathoth, 128. 24 The sons of Azmaveth, 42. 25 The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. 27 The men of Michmas, 122. 28 The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. 29 The sons of Nebo, 52. 30 The sons of Magbish, 156. 31 The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. 32 The sons of Harim, 320. 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. 34 The sons of Jericho, 345. 35 The sons of Senaah, 3,630.
36 The priests: the sons of cJedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. 37 The sons of Immer, 1,052. 38 The sons of dPashhur, 1,247. 39 The sons of Harim, 1,017.
40 The Levites: the sons of eJeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. 41 The singers: the fsons of Asaph, 128. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of gShallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of hTalmon, the sons of iAkkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.
43 The temple servants: the sons of jZiha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, 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 Reaiah, 48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of kNekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, 51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54 the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.
55 The lsons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, 56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.
58 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.
59 The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. 61 Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of mHakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). 62 These sought their registration among those nenrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, oand so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 63 The pgovernor told them that they were qnot to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult rUrim and Thummim.
64 The whole assembly together was 42,360, 65 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers. 66 Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, 67 their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.
68 Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that 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 61,000 darics1 of gold, 5,000 minas2 of silver, and 100 priests’ garments.
70 Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants slived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel3 in their towns.
Rebuilding the Altar
1 When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered tas one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then arose uJeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the valtar of the God of Israel, to offer wburnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 They set the altar in its place, for xfear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings ymorning and evening. 4 And they kept the zFeast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number aaccording to the rule, as each day required, 5 and after that the bregular burnt offerings, the offerings cat the new moon and dat all the eappointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a ffreewill offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the gfoundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. 7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring hcedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the igrant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
Rebuilding the Temple
8 Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, jfrom twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. 9 And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.
10 And when the builders klaid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, laccording to the directions of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,
m“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”
And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 nBut many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.
He Heals the Brokenhearted
1 Praise the Lord!
hFor it is good to sing praises to our God;
ifor it is pleasant,1 and a song of jpraise is fitting.
2 kThe Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he lgathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He mheals the nbrokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 oHe determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is pbeyond measure.
6 qThe Lord lifts up the humble;2
he rcasts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
smake melody to our God on the lyre!
8 He covers the heavens with clouds;
the prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
9 uHe gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord vtakes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who whope in his steadfast love.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders;
he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives xsnow like wool;
he scatters yfrost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his crystals of zice like crumbs;
who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
ahe makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19 bHe declares his word to Jacob,
his cstatutes and rules3 to Israel.
20 dHe has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.4
Praise the Lord!
