Ezra 1

• 1. In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the LORD fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy by stirring the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation into writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:
• 2. "This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem in the land of Judah.
• 3. All of you who are his people may return to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you!
• 4. Those who live in any place where Jewish survivors are found should contribute toward their expenses by supplying them with silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a freewill offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem."
• 5. Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the LORD.
• 6. And all their neighbors assisted by giving them vessels of silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock. They gave them many choice gifts in addition to all the freewill offerings.
• 7. King Cyrus himself brought out the valuable items which King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods.
• 8. Cyrus directed Mithredath, the treasurer of Persia, to count these items and present them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of the exiles returning to Judah.
• 9. These were the items Cyrus donated: gold trays............. 30 silver trays.......... 1,000 silver censers......... 29
• 10. gold bowls............ 30 silver bowls.......... 410 other items.......... 1,000
• 11. In all, 5,400 gold and silver items were turned over to Sheshbazzar to take back to Jerusalem when the exiles returned there from Babylon.

Ezra 2

• 1. Here is the list of the Jewish exiles of the provinces who returned from their captivity to Jerusalem and to the other towns of Judah. They had been deported to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.
• 2. Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the number of the men of Israel who returned from exile:
• 3. The family of Parosh.................... 2,172
• 4. The family of Shephatiah.................. 372
• 5. The family of Arah....................... 775
• 6. The family of Pahath-moab (descendants of Jeshua and Joab)......... 2,812
• 7. The family of Elam..................... 1,254
• 8. The family of Zattu....................... 945
• 9. The family of Zaccai...................... 760
• 10. The family of Bani....................... 642
• 11. The family of Bebai...................... 623
• 12. The family of Azgad.................... 1,222
• 13. The family of Adonikam.................. 666
• 14. The family of Bigvai.................... 2,056
• 15. The family of Adin....................... 454
• 16. The family of Ater (descendants of Hezekiah)................. 98
• 17. The family of Bezai...................... 323
• 18. The family of Jorah...................... 112
• 19. The family of Hashum.................... 223
• 20. The family of Gibbar...................... 95
• 21. The people of Bethlehem.................. 123
• 22. The people of Netophah.................... 56
• 23. The people of Anathoth.................... 128
• 24. The people of Beth-azmaveth.............. 42
• 25. The peoples of Kiriath-jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth................... 743
• 26. The peoples of Ramah and Geba............. 621
• 27. The people of Micmash.................... 122
• 28. The peoples of Bethel and Ai................ 223
• 29. The citizens of Nebo....................... 52
• 30. The citizens of Magbish.................... 156
• 31. The citizens of Elam...................... 1,254
• 32. The citizens of Harim...................... 320
• 33. The citizens of Lod, Hadid, and Ono............................... 725
• 34. The citizens of Jericho..................... 345
• 35. The citizens of Senaah.................... 3,630
• 36. These are the priests who returned from exile: The family of Jedaiah (through the line of Jeshua)...... 973
• 37. The family of Immer.......... 1,052
• 38. The family of Pashhur......... 1,247
• 39. The family of Harim.......... 1,017
• 40. These are the Levites who returned from exile: The families of Jeshua and Kadmiel (descendants of Hodaviah).......... 74
• 41. The singers of the family of Asaph.... 128
• 42. The gatekeepers of the families of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai................ 139
• 43. The descendants of the following Temple servants returned from exile: Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
• 44. Keros, Siaha, Padon,
• 45. Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,
• 46. Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,
• 47. Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,
• 48. Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,
• 49. Uzza, Paseah, Besai,
• 50. Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim,
• 51. Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
• 52. Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
• 53. Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
• 54. Neziah, and Hatipha.
• 55. The descendants of these servants of King Solomon returned from exile: Sotai, Sophereth, Peruda,
• 56. Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,
• 57. Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-hazzebaim, and Ami.
• 58. In all, the Temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's servants numbered 392.
• 59. Another group returned to Jerusalem at this time from the towns of Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Kerub, Addan, and Immer. However, they could not prove that they or their families were descendants of Israel.
• 60. This group consisted of the families of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda--a total of 652 people.
• 61. Three families of priests--Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai--also returned to Jerusalem. (This Barzillai had married a woman who was a descendant of Barzillai of Gilead, and he had taken her family name.)
• 62. But they had lost their genealogical records, so they were not allowed to serve as priests.
• 63. The governor would not even let them eat the priests' share of food from the sacrifices until there was a priest who could consult the LORD about the matter by means of sacred lots.
• 64. So a total of 42,360 people returned to Judah,
• 65. in addition to 7,337 servants and 200 singers, both men and women.
• 66. They took with them 736 horses, 245 mules,
• 67. 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.
• 68. When they arrived at the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders gave generously toward the rebuilding of God's Temple on its original site,
• 69. and each leader gave as much as he could. The total of their gifts came to 61,000 gold coins, 6,250 pounds of silver, and 100 robes for the priests.
• 70. So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, the Temple servants, and some of the common people settled in villages near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to the other towns of Judah from which they had come.

Ezra 3

• 1. Now in early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled together as one person in Jerusalem.
• 2. Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak with his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family began to rebuild the altar of the God of Israel so they could sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the law of Moses, the man of God.
• 3. Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they immediately began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the LORD. They did this each morning and evening.
• 4. They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the law of Moses, sacrificing the burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival.
• 5. They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the other annual festivals to the LORD. Freewill offerings were also sacrificed to the LORD by the people.
• 6. Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the LORD. This was also before they had started to lay the foundation of the LORD's Temple.
• 7. Then they hired masons and carpenters and bought cedar logs from the people of Tyre and Sidon, paying them with food, wine, and olive oil. The logs were brought down from the Lebanon mountains and floated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.
• 8. The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring, during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The work force was made up of everyone who had returned from exile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the LORD's Temple.
• 9. The workers at the Temple of God were supervised by Jeshua with his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, all descendants of Hodaviah. They were helped in this task by the Levites of the family of Henadad.
• 10. When the builders completed the foundation of the LORD's Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the LORD, just as King David had prescribed.
• 11. With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD: "He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!" Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD's Temple had been laid.
• 12. Many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders remembered the first Temple, and they wept aloud when they saw the new Temple's foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy.
• 13. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud commotion that could be heard far in the distance.

New Living Translation: 140 of 324 days.