“Choose some people ¹  from among the exiles, namely, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, all of whom have come from Babylon, and when you have done so go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ² 

All these gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. ¹  Sheshbazzar brought them all along when the captives were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe ¹  gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. ²  Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering.

It is me – I stir him up and commission him; ¹  I will make all his ways level. He will rebuild my city; he will send my exiled people home, but not for a price or a bribe,” says the Lord who commands armies.

“I, the Lord, the God of Israel, say: ‘The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon ¹  are like those good figs. I consider them to be good.

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says to all those he sent ²  into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, ³ 

Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul,

The exiles who were returning from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel – twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs, along with twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.

Then Ezra got up from in front of the temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he stayed ¹  there, he did not eat food or drink water, for he was in mourning over the infidelity of the exiles.

Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, ¹  and speak to them – say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”

So Arioch quickly ushered Daniel into the king’s presence, saying to him, “I ¹  have found a man from the captives of Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king.”

So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?

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,

The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem ¹  to Babylon. It was addressed to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon. ² 

For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,’ ¹  says the Lord. ²  ‘And you exiles ³  have not paid any attention to them either,’ says the Lord. ⁴ 

The Lord told Jeremiah, “Tell ¹  Shemaiah the Nehelamite ² 

A song of ascents. ²  When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, ³  we thought we were dreaming. ⁴ 

Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives ¹  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” ² 

The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do all this! May the Lord make your prophecy come true! May he bring back to this place from Babylon all the valuable articles taken from the Lord’s temple and the people who were carried into exile.

These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, ¹  but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners ²  on the earth.