The Return · 538 BC
Chapter 1
Going Home
When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion,we were like those who dream.
The people of who had escaped being killed were carried off to . They served the king of Babylon and his sons there until the kingdom of began to rule. So what the Lord had said through came true: the land lay empty and had its rest until seventy years had passed.
Then, in the first year of king of Persia, the Lord stirred up Cyrus’s spirit, to make what he had said through Jeremiah come true. So Cyrus sent a proclamation through his whole kingdom, and put it in writing too:
“Cyrus king of Persia says this: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has ordered me to build him a house in , in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah. Let him build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem. He is God. As for anyone who is left, in whatever place he lives, the people of that place are to help him with silver, gold, goods and animals, besides the gifts given freely for God’s house in Jerusalem.”
Then the family heads from Judah and , with the and the , got ready to go and build the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. So did everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up.
All the people around them helped them. They gave them things made of silver, gold, goods, animals and precious gifts, on top of everything that was freely offered.
King Cyrus also brought out the vessels of the Lord’s house, the bowls, dishes and other things used in it. had taken them from Jerusalem and put them in the temple of his gods. Cyrus had the treasurer bring them out and count them out to , the prince of Judah.
There were thirty gold platters and a thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, thirty gold bowls, four hundred ten silver bowls of another kind, and a thousand other vessels. There were five thousand four hundred vessels of gold and silver in all. Sheshbazzar brought them all with him when the captives came back from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Here are the people of the who came home from captivity. They were from among those Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon. They came back with , , Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah. Each of them went to his own town in Jerusalem and Judah.
The men of Israel were counted family by family. There were two thousand one hundred seventy-two of the family of Parosh, one thousand two hundred fifty-four of Elam, nine hundred forty-five of Zattu, one thousand two hundred twenty-two of Azgad, and two thousand fifty-six of Bigvai. There were more families besides, from Shephatiah and Arah to Hashum and Gibbar.
Others were counted by their towns. One hundred twenty-three were from , one hundred twenty-eight from , two hundred twenty-three from and Ai, and three hundred forty-five from . There were people from Netophah, Ramah and Geba, Michmas, Lod, Hadid and Ono, and three thousand six hundred thirty from Senaah.
Among the priests there were nine hundred seventy-three of the family of Jedaiah, from the family line of Jeshua; one thousand fifty-two of Immer; one thousand two hundred forty-seven of Pashhur; and one thousand seventeen of Harim.
There were seventy-four Levites, descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel, from the family of Hodaviah. The singers, the descendants of , numbered one hundred twenty-eight. There were one hundred thirty-nine gatekeepers in all, descended from Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai.
Then came the , family after family, from Ziha, Hasupha and Tabbaoth to Neziah and Hatipha. There were also the descendants of ’s servants, from Sotai, Hassophereth and Peruda to Pochereth Hazzebaim and Ami. All together, there were three hundred ninety-two temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants.
Some who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan and Immer could not show which families they came from, so it wasn’t known whether they belonged to Israel. There were six hundred fifty-two of them, from the families of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda.
Some of the priests had the same problem: the families of Habaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai. This Barzillai had married one of ’s daughters and was called by that family’s name.
These priests looked for their names in the family records, but their names were not there. So it was decided that they could not be priests, and they were put out of the priesthood.
The governor told them not to eat any of the most holy food until a priest came forward to serve with the .
The whole assembly together numbered forty-two thousand three hundred sixty. Besides them there were their servants, seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven men and women, and they had two hundred men and women who sang.
Their horses numbered seven hundred thirty-six, their mules two hundred forty-five, their camels four hundred thirty-five, and their donkeys six thousand seven hundred twenty.
When some of the family heads reached the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, they gave freely for God’s house, so that it could be built again where it had stood. They gave as much as they could into the treasury for the work: sixty-one thousand , the gold coins of Persia; five thousand of silver, about three tons; and one hundred garments for the priests.
So the priests and the Levites, with some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants, made their homes in their own towns, and so did all Israel.
One of the psalms, a , says:
When the Lord brought back those who returned to ,we were like people dreaming.Then our mouths were filled with laughter,and our tongues with singing.Then people among the nations said,“The Lord has done great things for them.”The Lord has done great things for us,and we are glad.Lord, bring back our fortunes again,like the streams in the .Those who sow in tearswill reap in joy.The one who goes out weeping,carrying seed for sowing,will surely come back with joy,carrying his .