Ezra and Nehemiah
Chapter 1 of 23
1In the first year of the reign of Cyrus king of Persia, so that the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah would be fulfilled, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia. He issued a proclamation throughout his whole kingdom and also put it in writing. It said: 2"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3Whoever among all the peoples belongs to him, may the LORD be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4As for all who remain in any of the lands where he deported them, let the people of their place help them with gold, silver, goods, and livestock, along with whatever else they freely choose to give for the house of the LORD in Jerusalem." 5Then the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin rose up, along with the priests and the Levites and everyone whose heart the LORD had moved, to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. 6All their neighbors helped them with articles of gold and silver, with livestock, and with other things they gladly gave of their own free will. 7King Cyrus also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his god. 8Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath son of Gazbar, counted them, and handed them over to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9This is the count: thirty gold basins, a thousand silver basins, and twenty-nine knives, 10thirty gold bowls, four hundred and ten silver bowls, and a thousand other articles. 11In all, the articles of gold and silver came to five thousand four hundred. Sheshbazzar brought all of them up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem. ‹
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Ezra and Nehemiah · Chapter 1 of 23