Book Order Plan

¹In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD roused the spirit of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

²This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The LORD, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.

³Any of his people among you, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.

⁴Let every survivor, wherever he resides, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

⁵So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites — everyone whose spirit God had roused  — prepared to go up and rebuild the LORD’s house in Jerusalem.

⁶All their neighbors supported them with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering.

⁷King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the LORD’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.

⁸King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

⁹This was the inventory: 30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins, 29 silver knives,

¹⁰30 gold bowls, 410 various silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.

¹¹The gold and silver articles totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of them when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

¹These now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported to Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.

²They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the Israelite men included

³Parosh’s descendants — 2,172

⁴Shephatiah’s descendants — 372

⁵Arah’s descendants — 775

⁶Pahath-moab’s descendants: Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants — 2,812

⁷Elam’s descendants — 1,254

⁸Zattu’s descendants — 945

⁹Zaccai’s descendants — 760

¹⁰Bani’s descendants — 642

¹¹Bebai’s descendants — 623

¹²Azgad’s descendants — 1,222

¹³Adonikam’s descendants — 666

¹⁴Bigvai’s descendants — 2,056

¹⁵Adin’s descendants — 454

¹⁶Ater’s descendants: of Hezekiah — 98

¹⁷Bezai’s descendants — 323

¹⁸Jorah’s descendants — 112

¹⁹Hashum’s descendants — 223

²⁰Gibbar’s descendants — 95

²¹Bethlehem’s people — 123

²²Netophah’s men — 56

²³Anathoth’s men — 128

²⁴Azmaveth’s people — 42

²⁵Kiriatharim’s, Chephirah’s, and Beeroth’s people — 743

²⁶Ramah’s and Geba’s people — 621

²⁷Michmas’s men — 122

²⁸Bethel’s and Ai’s men — 223

²⁹Nebo’s people — 52

³⁰Magbish’s people — 156

³¹the other Elam’s people — 1,254

³²Harim’s people — 320

³³Lod’s, Hadid’s, and Ono’s people — 725

³⁴Jericho’s people — 345

³⁵Senaah’s people — 3,630

³⁶The priests included Jedaiah’s descendants of the house of Jeshua — 973

³⁷Immer’s descendants — 1,052

³⁸Pashhur’s descendants — 1,247

³⁹and Harim’s descendants — 1,017

⁴⁰The Levites included Jeshua’s and Kadmiel’s descendants from Hodaviah’s descendants — 74

⁴¹The singers included Asaph’s descendants — 128

⁴²The gatekeepers’ descendants included Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants, Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants, Hatita’s descendants, Shobai’s descendants, in all — 139

⁴³The temple servants included Ziha’s descendants, Hasupha’s descendants, Tabbaoth’s descendants,

⁴⁴Keros’s descendants, Siaha’s descendants, Padon’s descendants,

⁴⁵Lebanah’s descendants, Hagabah’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants,

⁴⁶Hagab’s descendants, Shalmai’s descendants, Hanan’s descendants,

⁴⁷Giddel’s descendants, Gahar’s descendants, Reaiah’s descendants,

⁴⁸Rezin’s descendants, Nekoda’s descendants, Gazzam’s descendants,

⁴⁹Uzza’s descendants, Paseah’s descendants, Besai’s descendants,

⁵⁰Asnah’s descendants, Meunim’s descendants, Nephusim’s descendants,

⁵¹Bakbuk’s descendants, Hakupha’s descendants, Harhur’s descendants,

⁵²Bazluth’s descendants, Mehida’s descendants, Harsha’s descendants,

⁵³Barkos’s descendants, Sisera’s descendants, Temah’s descendants,

⁵⁴Neziah’s descendants, and Hatipha’s descendants.

⁵⁵The descendants of Solomon’s servants included Sotai’s descendants, Hassophereth’s descendants, Peruda’s descendants,

⁵⁶Jaalah’s descendants, Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,

⁵⁷Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants, Pochereth-hazzebaim’s descendants, and Ami’s descendants.

⁵⁸All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants — 392.

⁵⁹The following are those who came from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer but were unable to prove that their ancestral families and their lineage were Israelite:

⁶⁰Delaiah’s descendants, Tobiah’s descendants, Nekoda’s descendants — 652

⁶¹and from the descendants of the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, the descendants of Barzillai — who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and who bore their name.

⁶²These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood.

⁶³The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁴The whole combined assembly numbered — 42,360

⁶⁵not including their 7,337 male and female servants, and their 200 male and female singers.

⁶⁶They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

⁶⁷435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

⁶⁸After they arrived at the LORD’s house in Jerusalem, some of the family heads gave freewill offerings for the house of God in order to have it rebuilt on its original site.

⁶⁹Based on what they could give, they gave 61,000 gold coins, 6,250 pounds of silver, and 100 priestly garments to the treasury for the project.

⁷⁰The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, and some of the people settled in their towns, and the rest of Israel settled in their towns.

¹When the seventh month arrived, and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered as one in Jerusalem.

²Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel’s God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

³They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the LORD even though they feared the surrounding peoples.

⁴They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.

⁵After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month and for all the LORD’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to the LORD.

⁶On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, even though the foundation of the LORD’s temple had not yet been laid.

⁷They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they would bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.

⁸In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began to build. They appointed the Levites who were twenty years old or more to supervise the work on the LORD’s house.

⁹Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah and of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites, joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

¹⁰When the builders had laid the foundation of the LORD’s temple, the priests, dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph, holding cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as King David of Israel had instructed.

¹¹They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: “For he is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s house had been laid.

¹²But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple, but many others shouted joyfully.

¹³The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the weeping, because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.

¹When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,

²they approached Zerubbabel and the family heads and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time King Esar-haddon of Assyria brought us here.”

³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of Israel’s families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴Then the people who were already in the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.

⁵They also bribed officials to act against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.

⁶At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus, the people who were already in the land wrote an accusation against the residents of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷During the time of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to King Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.

⁸Rehum the chief deputy and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes concerning Jerusalem as follows:

⁹From Rehum the chief deputy, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues — the judges and magistrates from Tripolis, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa (that is, the people of Elam),

¹⁰and the rest of the peoples whom the great and illustrious Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and the region west of the Euphrates River.

¹¹This is the text of the letter they sent to him: To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men from the region west of the Euphrates River:

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you have returned to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and evil city, finishing its walls, and repairing its foundations.

¹³Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, they will not pay tribute, duty, or land tax, and the royal revenue will suffer.

¹⁴Since we have taken an oath of loyalty to the king, and it is not right for us to witness his dishonor, we have sent to inform the king

¹⁵that a search should be made in your fathers’ record books. In these record books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces. There have been revolts in it since ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.

¹⁶We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will not have any possession west of the Euphrates.

¹⁷The king sent a reply to his chief deputy Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates River: Greetings.

¹⁸The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.

¹⁹I issued a decree and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has had uprisings against kings since ancient times, and there have been rebellions and revolts in it.

²⁰Powerful kings have also ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates River, and tribute, duty, and land tax were paid to them.

²¹Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a further decree has been pronounced by me.

²²See that you not neglect this matter. Otherwise, the damage will increase and the royal interests will suffer.

²³As soon as the text of King Artaxerxes’s letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they immediately went to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

²⁴Now the construction of God’s house in Jerusalem had stopped and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.