In response, the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and descendants of Levi, and all those who had been prompted by God, prepared to travel to rebuild the Temple of the LORD, which was in Jerusalem.

King Cyrus also brought out from storage the service instruments from the Temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his gods.

Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out to Mithredath the Treasurer, had them inventoried, and had them placed in care of Sheshbazzar, governor of Judah.

Here is a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from the captivity, from those who had been exiled. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken them to Babylon. They came back to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his town,

In addition, they had 736 horses, 245 mules,

Seven months after the Israelis had settled in their cities, they all gathered together in Jerusalem as a united body.

Even though they feared the people in neighboring regions, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before. They offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD burnt offerings both in the morning and in the evening.

They began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD from the first day of the seventh month, even though the foundation of the Temple of the LORD had not yet been laid.

They paid masons and carpenters in cash. They paid the residents of Sidon and Tyre with food, drink, and oil, for them to bring cedar trees by sea from Lebanon to Joppa in accordance with the order they had obtained from Cyrus, king of Persia.

Two years and two months after arriving at the site of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, Jozadak's son Jeshua, the relatives of the priests and descendants of Levi, and everyone else who had left the Babylonian captivity for Jerusalem appointed descendants of Levi who were 20 years old and older to oversee the work of the LORD's Temple.

Now a number of the priests, the Levities, and the leading officials of the elders who were very elderly had seen the former Temple with their own eyes. When they observed the foundation of the Temple being laid, they wept with a loud voice, while the rest of them shouted for joy.

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the descendants of the Babylonian captivity had built their Temple to the LORD, the God of Israel,

He delivered into the care of Sheshbazzar (whom he appointed governor) the gold and silver utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem Temple and brought into the Babylonian temple.

Because of what King Darius had mandated, Tattenai, the Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out his orders quickly.

The Israelis the priests, the descendants of Levi, and the other related descendants who had returned from captivity celebrated with joy at the dedication of the Temple of God.

because the priests and descendants of Levi had purified themselves together all of them were pure and they killed the Passover lamb for every former exile, for their relatives the priests, and for themselves.

So the Israelis who had returned from captivity ate the Passover with all who had consecrated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel.

Then they observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the LORD had made them glad, turning the heart of the king of Assyria toward them and strengthening them for their work on the Temple of God, the God of Israel.

left Babylon. He was a skillful scribe of the Law of Moses that the LORD God of Israel had given. And the king granted him everything he had requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.

For Ezra had set his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, to obey it, and to teach God's statutes and judgments in Israel.

From Shecaniah's descendants and from Parosh's descendants: Zechariah, along with 150 men whose genealogies had been certified.

220 descendants of the Temple Servants whom David and the leaders had appointed to serve the descendants of Levi, listed by name.

because I was ashamed to ask the king for a contingent of soldiers and cavalry to protect us from enemies we might encounter on the way. After all, we had told the king, "The hand of our God seeks the good of all who seek him, but his power and anger are against everyone who forsakes him."

and divided between them the silver, the gold, the vessels, and the offering for the Temple of our God which the king had offered, along with his advisors, his senior officials, and all of Israel assembled there.

The descendants of those who had been taken into captivity and who had returned from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all of Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering all of them burnt offerings to the LORD.

Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered together as a group because of the sin committed by those who had been led astray. As for me, I remained seated, in shock, until the evening sacrifice.

should we violate your commandments by intermarrying with the nations who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you had consumed us, with not even a remnant surviving to escape?

Ezra arose in front of the Temple of God to visit the apartment of Eliashib's son Jehohanan. While there, he neither ate nor drank because he was in mourning over the sins of those who had returned from exile.

Then they sent word throughout Judah and Jerusalem to everyone who had returned from the exile, to gather together in Jerusalem.

Whoever would not come within three days would forfeit his assets and be separated from the community of the returning exiles, just as the high officials and elders had advised.

So those who had returned from exile did this. Ezra the priest and leaders of certain ancestral groups listed by name devoted themselves to examine the situation on the first day of the tenth month.

By the first day of the first month they concluded their investigation of all of the men who had married foreign wives.

All of these had married foreign wives, and some of them had children by them.