Ezra 1:5

The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem

1:5 Then the leaders ¹  of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready ²  to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ³ 

Ezra 2:59

2:59 These are the ones that came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify ⁴  their family connection ⁵  or their ancestry, ⁶  as to whether they really were from Israel):

Ezra 3:12

3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ⁷  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ⁸  – were weeping loudly, ⁹  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

Ezra 8:29

8:29 Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ¹⁰  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

¹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

² tn Heb “arose.”

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ tn Heb “relate.”

⁵ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

⁶ tn Heb “their seed.”

⁷ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

⁸ sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

⁹ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

¹⁰ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.