King Cyrus of Persia entrusted ¹  them to ²  Mithredath ³  the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar ⁴  the leader of the Judahite exiles. ⁵ 

Then King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the Lord’s temple which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and had displayed ¹  in the temple of his gods.

I weighed out to them ¹  650 talents of silver, silver vessels worth 100 talents, ²  100 talents of gold,

May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation ¹  who reaches out ²  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!”

and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels intended for the temple of our God – items that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present had contributed.

Then the priests and the Levites took charge of ¹  the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated.

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, ¹  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out ¹  by name men who were leaders in their family groups. ²  They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,

So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. ¹  And they all took a solemn oath.

Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?

“I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled ¹  on it, and his house is to be reduced ²  to a rubbish heap ³  for this indiscretion. ⁴ 

On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold, and the vessels in the house of our God into the care ¹  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.

At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, ¹  with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God.

The rest of the needs for the temple of your God that you may have to supply, ¹  you may do so from the royal treasury.

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. ¹ 

Even 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 ¹  of Babylon – even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented ²  to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor.

¹ These are the people ²  of the province who were going up, ³  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem ⁴  and Judah, each to his own city.

Exercise appropriate caution so that there is no negligence in this matter. Why should danger increase to the point that kings sustain damage?”

with three layers of large stones ¹  and one ²  layer of timber. The expense is to be subsidized ³  by the royal treasury. ⁴