“This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:‘The LORD God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Anyone of his people among you may go up there and may the LORD his God be with him!”
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1¶ The Decree of Cyrus In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the LORD’s message spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD motivated King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his kingdom and also to put it in writing. It read:
2“This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:“‘The LORD God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3Anyone of his people among you(may his God be with him!) may go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may build the temple of the LORD God of Israel– he is the God who is in Jerusalem.
4Anyone who survives in any of those places where he is a resident foreigner must be helped by his neighbors with silver, gold, equipment, and animals, along with voluntary offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem.’”
5The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem Then the leaders of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites– all those whose mind God had stirred– got ready to go up in order to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem.
6All their neighbors assisted them with silver utensils, gold, equipment, animals, and expensive gifts, not to mention all the voluntary offerings.
7Then King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the LORD’s temple which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and had displayed in the temple of his gods.
8King Cyrus of Persia entrusted them to Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the leader of the Judahite exiles.
22Cyrus Allows the Exiles to Go Home In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the LORD’s message spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD motivated King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his kingdom and also to put it in writing. It read:
12But after our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon.
13But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God.
14Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace of Babylon– even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor.
15He said to him,“Take these vessels and go deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its proper location.”
16Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.’
17“Now if the king is so inclined, let a search be conducted in the royal archives there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”
2they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders and said to them,“Let us help you build, for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him from the time of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them,“You have no right to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the LORD God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”
28who commissions Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd to carry out all my wishes and to decree concerning Jerusalem,‘She will be rebuilt,’ and concerning the temple,‘It will be reconstructed.’”
3In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety feet,
4with three layers of large stones and one layer of timber. The expense is to be subsidized by the royal treasury.
5Furthermore let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar brought from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, be returned and brought to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem. Let them be deposited in the temple of God.’
1This is what the LORD says to his chosen one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold in order to subdue nations before him, and disarm kings, to open doors before him, so gates remain unclosed:
12May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation who reaches out to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”
14The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
27Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the LORD which is in Jerusalem!
7Leave the work on this temple of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this temple of God in its proper place.
8“I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work.
13I have now issued a decree that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel– even the priests and Levites– who wishes to do so may go up with you to Jerusalem.
4“The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel says to all those he sent into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem,
15and to bring silver and gold which the king and his advisers have freely contributed to the God of Israel, who resides in Jerusalem,
20He deported to Babylon all who escaped the sword. They served him and his sons until the Persian kingdom rose to power.
20Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power?’”
36Then they presented the decrees of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who gave help to the people and to the temple of God.
35Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued their lands from my power? So how can the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power?’”
7Nebuchadnezzar took some of the items in the LORD’s temple to Babylon and put them in his palace there.
4“Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,” decrees the LORD.“Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And take heart all you citizens of the land,” decrees the LORD,“and begin to work. For I am with you,” decrees the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
13It is me– I stir him up and commission him; I will make all his ways level. He will rebuild my city; he will send my exiled people home, but not for a price or a bribe,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
15Then those who are far away will come and build the temple of the LORD so that you may know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the LORD your God.”’”
8Go up to the hill country and bring back timber to build the temple. Then I will be pleased and honored,’ says the LORD.
3At that time Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked,“Who gave you authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?”
23Everything that the God of heaven has required should be precisely done for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath against the empire of the king and his sons?
18He carried away to Babylon all the items in God’s temple, whether large or small, as well as what was in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and in the treasuries of the king and his officials.
8Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.