JUDAH’S KING JEHOAHAZ

36 Thenh the common peopleD took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

2 Jehoahaz* was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and fined the land seventy-five hundred poundsA of silver and seventy-five poundsB of gold.

JUDAH’S KING JEHOIAKIM

4 Then King Neco of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt.i

5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.j 6 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked himk and bound him in bronzel shackles to take him to Babylon.m 7 Also Nebuchadnezzar took some of the articles of the Lord’s temple to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon.n

8 The rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim,o the detestable actions he committed, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of Israel’s Kings. His son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

JUDAH’S KING JEHOIACHIN

9 Jehoiachin was eighteen* years oldp when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. 10 In the springD,q Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon along with the valuable articles of the Lord’s temple. Then he made Jehoiachin’s brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.r

JUDAH’S KING ZEDEKIAH

11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years olds when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himselft before the prophet Jeremiah at the Lord’s command.u 13 He also rebelled againstv King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinateE,w and hardened his heart against returning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

15 But the Lord, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again,x for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers,y despising his words,z and scoffing at his prophets, until the Lord’s wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no remedy.aa 17 So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans,ab who killed their fit young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; he handed them all over to him. 18 He took everything to Babylon—all the articles of God’s temple, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple.a They tore down Jerusalem’s wall, burned all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable articles.

20 He deported those who escaped from the sword to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the PersianA kingdom.b 21 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah,c and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolationd until seventy years were fulfilled.

THE DECREE OF CYRUS

22 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia,e in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken throughB Jeremiah,f the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrusg of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also to put it in writing:

23 This 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 temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord his God be with him.

EZRA

THE DECREE OF CYRUS

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

2 This 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.d 3 Any 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,e the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 Let every survivor,f 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.”

RETURN FROM EXILE

5 So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had rousedg—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors supported themA,h with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 King 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.i 8 King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.j 9 This was the inventory:

30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins,

29 silver knives, 10 30 gold bowls,

410 variousB silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.

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

THE EXILES WHO RETURNED

2 Thesek now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of BabylonC had deported to Babylon.l They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with Zerubbabel,m Jeshua,n Nehemiah, Seraiah,o Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the Israelite men includedD

42 The gatekeepers’b descendants included

Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants,

Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants,

43 The temple servantsc included

Ziha’s descendants, Hasupha’s descendants,

Tabbaoth’s descendants, 44 Keros’s descendants,

Siaha’s descendants, Padon’s descendants,

45 Lebanah’s descendants, Hagabah’s descendants,

Akkub’s descendants, 46 Hagab’s descendants,

Shalmai’sA descendants, Hanan’s descendants,

47 Giddel’s descendants, Gahar’s descendants,

Reaiah’s descendants, 48 Rezin’s descendants,

Nekoda’s descendants, Gazzam’s descendants,

49 Uzza’s descendants, Paseah’s descendants,

Besai’s descendants, 50 Asnah’s descendants,

Meunim’sB descendants, Nephusim’sC descendants,

51 Bakbuk’s descendants, Hakupha’s descendants,

Harhur’s descendants, 52 Bazluth’s descendants,

Mehida’s descendants, Harsha’s descendants,

53 Barkos’s descendants, Sisera’s descendants,

Temah’s descendants, 54 Neziah’s descendants,

and Hatipha’s descendants.

55 The descendants of Solomon’s servantsd included

Sotai’s descendants, Hassophereth’s descendants,

Peruda’s descendants, 56 Jaalah’s descendants,

Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,

57 Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants,

Pochereth-hazzebaim’s descendants, and Ami’s descendants.

58 All the temple servants

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

60 Delaiah’s descendants,

Tobiah’s descendants,

61 and 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. 62 These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood. 63 The governore ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.f

65 not including their 7,337 male and female servants,

and their 200 male and female singers.g

66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

67 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

GIFTS FOR THE WORK

68 After they arrived at the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, some of the family heads gave freewill offeringsh for the house of God in order to have it rebuilt on its original site. 69 Based on what they could give, they gave 61,000 gold coins,B 6,250 poundsC of silver, and 100 priestly garments to the treasurya for the project. 70 The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, and some of the people settled in their towns, and the rest of Israel settled in their towns.b

SACRIFICE RESTORED

3 When the seventh month arrived,c and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered as one in Jerusalem.d 2 Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiele 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.f 3 They 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.g 4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.h 5 After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each monthA,i and for all the Lord’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought toB the Lord.

6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord,j even though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid. 7 They 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,k according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.l

REBUILDING THE TEMPLE

8 In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak,m 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.n 9 Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah* and of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites,o joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

TEMPLE FOUNDATION COMPLETED

10 When 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,p holding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord, as King David of Israel had instructed.q 11 They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For he is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever.”r Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid.s

12 But 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,t but many others shouted joyfully. 13 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of theD weeping,u because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.