Ezra 1:3-5

1:3 Anyone from 1  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. 1:4 Anyone who survives in any of those places where he is a resident foreigner must be helped by his neighbors 2  with silver, gold, equipment, and animals, along with voluntary offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem

1:5 Then the leaders 3  of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready 4  to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. 5 

Ezra 1:7

1:7 Then King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the Lord’s temple which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and had displayed 6  in the temple of his gods.

1 tn Heb “from all.”

2 tn Heb “the men of his place.”

3 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

4 tn Heb “arose.”

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

6 tn Heb “and he gave them.”