And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, so that the Word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying,

So says Cyrus king of Persia, Jehovah, the God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Who is there among you of all His people? Let 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 in Jerusalem.

And whoever remains in any place where he resides, let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold and with goods and with animals, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

And the chiefs of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, and all whose spirit God had raised, rose up to go up to build the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem.

And all those who were around them made their hands strong with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, and with precious things, besides all being willingly offered.

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

Even those Cyrus king of Persia brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

And this is the number of them: thirty platters of gold, a thousand platters of silver, twenty-nine knives,

thirty basins of gold, four hundred and ten silver basins of a second kind, and a thousand other vessels.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

And these are the sons of the province who went up out of the captivity, of those who had been exiled, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled to Babylon. And these came again to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his city.

These are the ones who came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. This is the number of the men of the people of the sons of Israel:

The sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two.

The sons of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two.

The sons of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five.

The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.

The sons of Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four.

The sons of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five.

The sons of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty.

The sons of Bani, six hundred and forty-two.

The sons of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three.

The sons of Azgad, a thousand two hundred and twenty-two.

The sons of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-six.

The sons of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty-six.

The sons of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four.

The sons of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.

The sons of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three.

The sons of Jorah, a hundred and twelve.

The sons of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three.

The sons of Gibbar, ninety-five.

The sons of Bethlehem, a hundred and twenty-three.

The men of Netophah, fifty-six.

The men of Anathoth, a hundred and twenty-eight.

The sons of Azmaveth, forty-two.

The sons of Kirjath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth seven hundred and forty-three.

The sons of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one.

The men of Michmas, a hundred and twenty-two.

The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three.

The men of Nebo, fifty-two.

The men of Magbish, a hundred and fifty-six.

The sons of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four.

The sons of Harim, three hundred and twenty.

The sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five.

The sons of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five.

The sons of Senaah, three thousand, six hundred and thirty.

The priests: The sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three.

The sons of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two.

The sons of Pashur, a thousand two hundred and forty-seven.

The sons of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.

The Levites: The sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah seventy-four.

The singers: The sons of Asaph, a hundred and twenty-eight.

The sons of the gatekeepers: The sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, a hundred and thirty-nine.

The temple-slaves: The sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,

the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon,

the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub,

the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, the sons of Hanan,

the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah,

the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam,

the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai,

the sons of Asnah, the sons of Mehunim, the sons of Nephusim,

the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur,

the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,

the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Thamah,

the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

The sons of Solomon's servants: The sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Peruda,

the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,

the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth of Zebaim, the sons of Ami.

All the temple-slaves, and the sons of Solomon's servants three hundred and ninety-two.

And these were they who went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not show their father's house and their seed, whether they were of Israel:

the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, six hundred and fifty-two.

And of the sons of the priests, the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Koz, the sons of Barzillai (who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name).

And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.

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

They gave according to their ability to the treasure of the work, sixty one thousand drachmas of gold, and five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priest's garments.

And the priests, and the Levites, and many of the people, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the temple slaves, lived in their cities. And all Israel in their cities.

And when the seventh month had come, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves as one man to Jerusalem.

And Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers. And they built the altar of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

And they set the altar on its bases, for fear was on them because of the people of those countries. And they offered burnt offerings on it to Jehovah, burnt offerings both morning and evening.

And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required.

And afterward they offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons and of all the set feasts of Jehovah that were set apart, and of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to Jehovah.

From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Jehovah. But the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not laid.

They gave silver also to the masons and to the carpenters. And they gave meat and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and to the people of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

And in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all they who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began. And they chose the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of Jehovah.

And Jeshua stood up together with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, to set forward the workmen in the house of God the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their robes with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jehovah, according to David king of Israel.

And they sang, praising and giving thanks to Jehovah, because He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid.

But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, ancient men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. And many shouted aloud for joy

so that the people could not tell the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people. For the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

And when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the captivity built the temple to Jehovah, the God of Israel,

then they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief of the fathers, and said to them, Let us build with you, for we seek your God, even as you. And we have sacrificed to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said to them, You have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God. But we ourselves together will build to Jehovah, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building.

And they hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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

And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of their companions, wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. And the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.

Then Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the judges, and the emissaries, the consuls, the officials, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,

and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest of the province Beyond the River, and now,

this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him, to Artaxerxes the king. Your servants the men of the province Beyond the River, and so now,

And let it be known to the king that if this city is built and the walls set up, then they will not pay toll, taxes, or custom, and you shall endanger the revenue of the kings.