Ezra 1:2-3

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.

Ezra 1:5

The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem

1:5 Then the leaders ⁴  of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready ⁵  to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶ 

Ezra 3:11

3:11 With antiphonal response they sang, ⁷  praising and glorifying the Lord:

“For he is good;

his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”

All the people gave a loud ⁸  shout as they praised the Lord when the temple of the Lord was established.

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 ⁹  of the king of Assyria ¹⁰  toward them, so that he assisted ¹¹  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 7:28

7:28 He has also conferred his favor on me before the king, his advisers, and all the influential leaders of the king. I gained strength as the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

Ezra 9:8

9:8 “But now briefly ¹²  we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position ¹³  in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes ¹⁴  and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude.

Ezra 9:15

9:15 O Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Indeed, we stand before you in our guilt. However, because of this guilt ¹⁵  no one can really stand before you.”

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 heads of the fathers.”

⁶ tn Heb “arose.”

⁷ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn Heb “they answered.”

⁸ tn Heb “great.”

⁹ tn Heb “heart.”

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

¹¹ tn Heb “according to a little moment.”

¹² tn Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.

¹³ tn Heb “to cause our eyes to shine.” The expression is a figure of speech for “to revive.” See DCH 1:160 s.v. אור Hi.7.

¹³ tn Heb “this”; the referent (the guilt mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.