Ezra 1:2-3

1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:

“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple ¹  for him in Jerusalem, ²  which is in Judah. 1:3 Anyone from ³  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.

Ezra 3:2

3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak ⁴  and his priestly colleagues ⁵  and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues ⁶  started to build ⁷  the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by ⁸  the law of Moses the man of God.

Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ⁹  to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ¹⁰  of the king of Assyria ¹¹  toward them, so that he assisted ¹²  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 7:6

7:6 This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Ezra 7:28

7:28 He has also conferred his favor on me before the king, his advisers, and all the influential leaders of the king. I gained strength as the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

Ezra 9:15

9:15 O Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Indeed, we stand before you in our guilt. However, because of this guilt ¹³  no one can really stand before you.”

[1:2]  ¹ tn Heb “house.” The Hebrew noun בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is often used in reference to the temple of Yahweh (BDB 108 s.v. 1.a). This is also frequent elsewhere in Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g., Ezra 1:3, 4, 5, 7; 2:68; 3:8, 9, 11, 12; 4:3; 6:22; 7:27; 8:17, 25, 29, 30, 33, 36; 9:9; 10:1, 6, 9).

[1:2]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:3]  ³ tn Heb “from all.”

[3:2]  ⁴ sn Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[3:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “arose and built.”

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.

[4:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

[6:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “heart.”

[6:22]  ¹¹ sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

[6:22]  ¹² tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

[9:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “this”; the referent (the guilt mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.