Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of the heavens given to me, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Whosoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah the God of Israel he is God which is at Jerusalem.

And whosoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the voluntary offering for the house of God which is at Jerusalem.

And the chief fathers of Judah and Benjamin rose up, and the priests, and the Levites, even all those whose spirit God had stirred, to go up to build the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem.

And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem and had put in the house of his god.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred. The whole did Sheshbazzar bring up, when they of the captivity were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

And these are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city,

And some of the chief fathers, when they came to the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in its place.

And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

And in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem; and they appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to superintend the work of the house of Jehovah.

And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king after this sort:

Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from thee unto us have come to Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and they complete the walls and join up the foundations.

And there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all beyond the river; and tribute, tax, and toll were paid to them.

As soon as the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them cease by force and power.

Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel did they prophesy to them.

Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, who helped them.

And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was at Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, those did king Cyrus take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one Sheshbazzar by name, whom he had appointed governor.

And he said to him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is at Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place.

Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and since that time even until now has it been in building, and it is not completed.

And now, if it seem good to the king, let search be made in the king's treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that orders were given by king Cyrus to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

In the first year of king Cyrus, king Cyrus made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: Let the house be built for a place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be solidly laid; its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits,

and also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple that is at Jerusalem, in their place; and thou shalt put them in the house of God.

And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt-offerings to the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;

And the God that has caused his name to dwell there overthrow every king and people that shall put forth their hand to alter or to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have given this order; let it be done diligently.

And they set the priests in their classes, and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem: as it is written in the book of Moses.

(And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the doorkeepers, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.)

And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

For upon the first of the first month the project of going up from Babylon was determined on, and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

I have given orders that all they of the people of Israel, and of their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are disposed to go to Jerusalem, go with thee.

Because thou art sent by the king, and by his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thy hand;

and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is at Jerusalem,

and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, besides the voluntary offering of the people, and of the priests, who offer willingly for the house of their God which is at Jerusalem.

Therefore thou shalt buy diligently with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their oblations and their drink-offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is at Jerusalem.

And the vessels that have been given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.

Blessed be Jehovah the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem;

Watch and keep them until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.

And the priests and the Levites received by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us before the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

And they made proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;

Then were all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the open space of the house of God, trembling because of the matter, and because of the pouring rain.