Ezra 1:2-5

1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:

“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple ¹  for him in Jerusalem, ²  which is in Judah. 1:3 Anyone from ³  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. 1:4 Anyone who survives in any of those places where he is a resident foreigner must be helped by his neighbors ⁴  with silver, gold, equipment, and animals, along with voluntary offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem

1:5 Then the leaders ⁵  of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready ⁶  to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁷ 

Ezra 3:9

3:9 So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives, ⁸  Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah ⁹ ), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives ¹⁰  the Levites.

Ezra 3:11

3:11 With antiphonal response they sang, ¹¹  praising and glorifying the Lord:

“For he is good;

his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”

All the people gave a loud ¹²  shout as they praised the Lord when the temple of the Lord was established.

Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ¹³  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.”

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ¹⁴  of the king of Assyria ¹⁵  toward them, so that he assisted ¹⁶  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 8:17

8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them ¹⁷  what to say to Iddo and his relatives, ¹⁸  who were the temple servants in ¹⁹  Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

Ezra 8:33

8:33 On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold, and the vessels in the house of our God into the care ²⁰  of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest, and Eleazar son of Phinehas, who were accompanied by Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui, who were Levites.

Ezra 9:9

9:9 Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us ²¹  to restore the temple of our God and to raise ²²  up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ²³ 

Ezra 10:1

The People Confess Their Sins

10:1 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites – men, women, and children alike – gathered around him. The people wept loudly. ²⁴ 

Ezra 10:6

10:6 Then Ezra got up from in front of the temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he stayed ²⁵  there, he did not eat food or drink water, for he was in mourning over the infidelity of the exiles.

Ezra 10:9

10:9 All the men of Judah and Benjamin were gathered in Jerusalem within the three days. (It was in the ninth month, on the twentieth day of that month.) All the people sat in the square at the temple of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the rains.

Ezra 10:16

10:16 So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out ²⁶  by name men who were leaders in their family groups. ²⁷  They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,

¹ tn Heb “house.” The Hebrew noun בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is often used in reference to the temple of Yahweh (BDB 108 s.v. 1.a). This is also frequent elsewhere in Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g., Ezra 1:3, 4, 5, 7; 2:68; 3:8, 9, 11, 12; 4:3; 6:22; 7:27; 8:17, 25, 29, 30, 33, 36; 9:9; 10:1, 6, 9).

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ tn Heb “from all.”

⁵ tn Heb “the men of his place.”

⁷ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

⁸ tn Heb “arose.”

⁹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Heb “brothers.”

¹⁰ sn The name יְהוּדָה (Yehudah; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB “Judah”) is probably a variant of Hodaviah (see Ezra 2:40; cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

¹¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

¹¹ tn Heb “they answered.”

¹² tn Heb “great.”

¹³ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “heart.”

¹⁶ sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

¹⁷ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”

¹⁸ tc The translation reads with the LXX and Vulgate וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “and his brethren” = “relatives”; so NCV, NLT) rather than the reading אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”) of the MT.

¹⁹ tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁹ tn Heb “upon the hand of.”

²¹ tn Heb “has granted us reviving.”

²² tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

²³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²³ tn Heb “with much weeping.”

²⁵ tc The translation reads וַיָּלֶן (vayyalen, “and he stayed”) rather than the reading וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh, “and he went”) of the MT. Cf. the LXX.

²⁷ tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּבְדֵּל לוֹ (vayyavdel lo, “separated for himself”) rather than the Niphal plural וַיִּבָּדְלוּ (vayyibbadÿlu, “were separated”) of the MT.

²⁸ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers, to the house of their fathers, and all of them by name.”