And whosoever remaineth yet in any manner of place, where he is a stranger, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with good and cattle, beside that which they willingly offer, for the house of God at Jerusalem.'"

Then gat up the principal fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, and all they whose spirit God had raised to go up, and to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem.

And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.

And they counted: 30 dishes (basins) of gold, 1,000 dishes of silver, 29 duplicates;

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.

These are the people of the province who were going up, from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city.

They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of Israelites was as follows:

Now these are those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan and Immer, but they were not able to give evidence of their fathers’ households and their descendants, whether they were of Israel:

These searched among their ancestral registration, but they could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood.

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

besides their male and female servants who numbered 7,337; and they had 200 singing men and women.

They had seven hundred and thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five transport beasts,

Some of the heads of fathers’ households, when they arrived at the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to restore it on its foundation.

According to their ability they gave to the treasury for the work 61,000 gold drachmas and 5,000 silver minas and 100 priestly garments.

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

Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his priestly colleagues and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues started to build the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by the law of Moses the man of God.

So they set up the altar on its foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening.

They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the fixed number of burnt offerings daily, according to the ordinance, as each day required;

Afterward they offered the continual burnt offerings and those for the new moons and those for all the holy assemblies of the Lord and all those that were being voluntarily offered to the Lord.

From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid.

Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the permission 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, 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.

So they took their station - even Jeshua, his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, sons of Judah, as one man to preside over the doer of the work in the house of God, the sons of Henadad, their sons and their brethren, the Levites.

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

They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” 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.

But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this house, but many others shouted joyfully.

they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”

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

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

this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him:“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men in the region beyond the River, and now

let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding the rebellious and evil city and are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.

Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, they will not pay tribute, custom or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings.

so that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore that city was laid waste.

And, from me, went forth an edict, and they have made search and found, that, this city, since the days of age-past time, against kings, hath lifted herself up, - and, sedition and rebellion, have been made therein;

Further, there have been great kings in Jerusalem, ruling over all the country across the river, to whom they gave taxes and payments in goods and forced payments.

Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.

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.

At that time, came unto them Tattenai pasha Beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, - and, thus, spake they unto them, Who hath issued unto you an edict, this house, to build, and, this wall, to complete?

And they said to them after this manner: What are the names of the men that build this building?

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could come to Darius, and then a written reply be returned concerning it.

They sent a report to him in which it was written thus: “To Darius the king, all peace.

This is to give the king word that we went into the land of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is made of great stones, and has its walls supported with wood, and the work is going on with industry, and they are doing it well.

Thus they answered us, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and brought them to the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor.

Then, Darius the king, issued an edict, - and they made search in the house of the books, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

And at Achmetha, in the great house of the king in the land of Media, they came across a roll, in which this statement was put on record:

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,

Let the Temple be rebuilt where they offered sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be laid with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 60 cubits, constructed with three layers of foundation stone interlaced with a row of new timber, the expenses for which are to be paid from the king's treasury.

The gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon must also be returned. They are to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem where they belong and put into the house of God.

Leave to the works of this house of God: the prefect of the Jews and the old men of the Jews, they shall build this house of God upon its place.

Moreover, I give orders what ye shall do to these elders of the Jews, for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, of the tribute beyond the river, expenses be diligently given to these men, that they be not hindered.

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;

that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

Then, Tattenai the pasha Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, - according as Darius the king had sent, so, forthwith, they did.

And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

They offered for the dedication of this temple of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Then they appointed the priests to their divisions and the Levites in their orders for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves.

And they observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had caused them to rejoice, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

And there will go up from the sons of Israel, and from the priests and the Levites, and those singing, and they watching the gates, and the Nethinims, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year to Arthasatha the king.

And they came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, that is the seventh year of the king.

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.

“You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them.

and hath inclined his mercy unto me in the presence of the king, and his counselors, and before all the king's high estates. And I was comforted, according to the hand of the LORD my God over me, and so gathered I the heads of Israel together, that they might go up with me.

And I shall send for Eleazar, for Ariel, for Shemaiah and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, the heads; and for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, they understanding.

And I gave them a commission to Iddo the chief, at the place Casiphia, and I put words in their mouths to say to Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

According to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of insight of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, 18 men;

and some of the temple servants that David and his officials had established for the work of the Levites -- 220 of them. They were all designated by name.

They were weighed by number and by weight of every one. And all the weight was written at that time.

They who came in out of the captivity, Sons of the Exile, offered as ascending-sacrifices unto the God of Israel - bullocks twelve for all Israel, rams ninety-six, young sheep seventy-seven, he-goats for bearing sin, twelve, - the whole, as an ascending-sacrifice unto Yahweh.

Then they delivered the king’s edicts to the king’s satraps and to the governors in the provinces beyond the River, and they supported the people and the house of God.

And at the end of these things, the rulers came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands. But they are doing according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.”

which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the filthiness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations with which they have filled it from one end to another through their uncleanness.

Then Ezra rose and made the leading priests, the Levites and all Israel, take oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath.

They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they should assemble at Jerusalem,

Let us appoint our rulers therefore in all the congregation, that all they which have taken strange wives in our cities, may come at the time appointed - and the elders of every city and their judges with them - till the wrath of our God be turned away from us for this offense."

Only Asahel's son Jonathan and Tikvah's son Jahzeiah opposed this, and they were supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the descendant of Levi.

But the exiles did so. And Ezra the priest selected men who were heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter.

They finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.

They pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their offense.

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