Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and

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

Whoever 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 LORD, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.

And whoever is left, 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 freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

Then the heads of fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred, rose up to go up to build the house of LORD which is in Jerusalem.

Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods,

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

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

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

The sons of the porters: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, in all a hundred thirty-nine.

And some of the heads of fathers, when they came to the house of LORD which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to set it up in its place.

They gave after their ability into the treasury of the work sixty-one thousand darics of gold, and five thousand pounds of silver, and one hundred priests' garments.

So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

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

Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers, stood up and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it as it is written in the law of M

And they set the altar upon its base, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the countries. And they offered burnt-offerings on it to LORD, even burnt-offerings morning and evening.

Now 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 those

Then Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, stood together to have the oversight of 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 LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise LORD, after the order of David king of Israel.

And they sang one to another in praising and giving thanks to LORD, [saying], For he is good, for his loving kindness [is] forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised LORD, because the fo

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers, the old 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.

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the captivity were building a temple to LORD, the God of Israel,

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers of Israel, said to them, Ye have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God, but we ourselves together will build to LORD, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus

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

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

And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. And the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian [character], and set forth in the Syrian [tongu

Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this way.

and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest beyond the River, and so forth.

Be it known now to the king, that, if this city be built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings.

that search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers. So thou shall find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces. And that they have made sedition wi

[Then] the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and in the rest beyond the River: Peace, and so forth.

And I decreed, and search has been made. And it is found that this city of old time has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.

And take heed that ye be not slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

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

Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, to them.

they sent a letter to him, in which was written thus: To Darius the king, all peace.

Be it known to the king, that we went into the province of Judah to the house of the great God, which is built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls. And this work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands.

And thus they returned us an answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. And are building the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God.

And also the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought into the temple of Babylon, those Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they w

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

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

Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made from Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, an

Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a roll, and in it was thus written for a record:

In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be built--the place where they offer sacrifices--and let the foundations of it be strongly laid, the height

Let the work of this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.

And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, [also] wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given the

And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

And they set the priests in their divisions, 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 kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy. For LORD had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which LORD, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of LORD his God upon him.

And some of the sons of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, went up 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 [day] of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first [day] of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.

I make a decree, that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with thee.

Forasmuch as thou are sent from the king and his seven counselors, 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 counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,

and all the silver and gold that thou shall find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem.

Therefore thou shall with all diligence buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shall offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

to a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

And thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of thy God, that is in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of thy God, and teach ye him who does not kno

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

Now these are the heads of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those who seek him, for good, but his power an

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

Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth [day] 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 the ambushment by the way.

And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them was Jozabad the s

Now when these things were done, the rulers drew near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, even

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands. Yea, the hand of the heads and rulers has been chief in this trespass.

And when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.

And now for a little moment grace has been shown from LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

For we are bondmen, yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins of it, a

which thou have commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, to which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from o

Now therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever, that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritan

shall we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples who do these abominations? Would thou not be angry with us till thou had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?

O LORD, the God of Israel, thou are righteous, for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before thee in our guiltiness, for none can stand before thee because of this.

And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land. Yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this th

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. And [when] he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water, for he mourned because of the trespass of those of the captivit

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth [day] of the month, and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God,

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside. Neither is this a work of one day or two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

Let now our rulers be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce

And the sons of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, [with] certain heads of fathers, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart. And they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to exami

And they made an end with all the men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.