Ezra 6:7

6:7 Leave the work on this temple of God alone. ¹  Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this temple of God in its proper place.

Ezra 2:68

2:68 When they came to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders ²  offered voluntary offerings for the temple of God in order to rebuild ³  it on its site.

Ezra 5:15

5:15 He said to him, “Take these vessels and go deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its proper location.” ⁴ 

Ezra 9:8

9:8 “But now briefly ⁵  we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position ⁶  in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes ⁷  and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude.

Ezra 3:3

3:3 They established the altar on its foundations, even though they were in terror of the local peoples, ⁸  and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and the evening offerings.

Ezra 1:4

1:4 Anyone who survives in any of those places where he is a resident foreigner must be helped by his neighbors ⁹  with silver, gold, equipment, and animals, along with voluntary offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

Ezra 6:3

6:3 In the first year of his reign, ¹⁰  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ¹¹  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ¹²  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ¹³  feet, ¹⁴ 

Ezra 6:5

6:5 Furthermore let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar brought from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, be returned and brought to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem. Let them be deposited in the temple of God.’

Ezra 10:6

10:6 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 ¹⁵  there, he did not eat food or drink water, for he was in mourning over the infidelity of the exiles.

Ezra 6:1

Darius Issues a Decree

6:1 So Darius the king issued orders, and they searched in the archives ¹⁶  of the treasury which were deposited there in Babylon.

Ezra 8:17

8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them ¹⁷  what to say to Iddo and his relatives, ¹⁸  who were the temple servants in ¹⁹  Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

Ezra 7:15

7:15 and to bring silver and gold which the king and his advisers have freely contributed to the God of Israel, who resides in Jerusalem,

Ezra 6:11

6:11 “I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled ²⁰  on it, and his house is to be reduced ²¹  to a rubbish heap ²²  for this indiscretion. ²³ 

Ezra 4:4

4:4 Then the local people ²⁴  began to discourage ²⁵  the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.

Ezra 2:70

2:70 The priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel lived in their towns.

Ezra 6:12

6:12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation ²⁶  who reaches out ²⁷  to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”

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 ²⁸  in the temple of his gods.

Ezra 4:8

4:8 Rehum the commander ²⁹  and Shimshai the scribe ³⁰  wrote a letter concerning ³¹  Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

Ezra 4:10

4:10 and the rest of nations whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal ³²  deported and settled in the cities ³³  of Samaria and other places in Trans-Euphrates. ³⁴ 

Ezra 6:18

6:18 They appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their divisions over the worship of God at Jerusalem, ³⁵  in accord with ³⁶  the book of Moses.

Ezra 9:5

9:5 At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, ³⁷  with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God.

Ezra 5:14

5:14 Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace ³⁸  of Babylon – even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented ³⁹  to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor.

Ezra 2:1

The Names of the Returning Exiles

2:1 ⁴⁰ These are the people ⁴¹  of the province who were going up, ⁴²  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem ⁴³  and Judah, each to his own city.

Ezra 3:2

3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak ⁴⁴  and his priestly colleagues ⁴⁵  and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues ⁴⁶  started to build ⁴⁷  the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by ⁴⁸  the law of Moses the man of God.

Ezra 3:10

3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ⁴⁹  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ⁵⁰  King David of Israel. ⁵¹ 

Ezra 4:12

4:12 Now ⁵²  let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and odious city. ⁵³  They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations.

Ezra 5:8

5:8 Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, ⁵⁴  and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.

Ezra 5:11

5:11 They responded to us in the following way: ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king ⁵⁵  of Israel built it and completed it.

Ezra 5:17

5:17 “Now if the king is so inclined, ⁵⁶  let a search be conducted in the royal archives ⁵⁷  there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”

Ezra 6:21

6:21 The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them ⁵⁸  in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel.

Ezra 7:17

7:17 With this money you should be sure to purchase bulls, rams, and lambs, along with the appropriate ⁵⁹  meal offerings and libations. You should bring them to the altar of the temple of your God which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 9:11

9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: ⁶⁰  ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! ⁶¹  With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness.

Ezra 3:8

3:8 In the second year after they had come to the temple of God in Jerusalem, ⁶²  in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak initiated the work, ⁶³  along with the rest of their associates, ⁶⁴  the priests and the Levites, and all those who were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed ⁶⁵  the Levites who were at least twenty years old ⁶⁶  to take charge of the work on the Lord’s temple.

Ezra 9:1

A Prayer of Ezra

9:1 Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents ⁶⁷  who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

[6:7]  ¹ tc For the MT reading “the work on this temple of God” the LXX reads “the servant of the Lord Zurababel” [= Zerubbabel].

[2:68]  ² tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

[2:68]  ³ tn Heb “cause it to stand.”

[5:15]  ⁴ tn Aram “upon its place.”

[9:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to a little moment.”

[9:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.

[9:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “to cause our eyes to shine.” The expression is a figure of speech for “to revive.” See DCH 1:160 s.v. אור Hi.7.

[3:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[1:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “the men of his place.”

[6:3]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “In the first year of Cyrus the king.”

[6:3]  ¹¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:3]  ¹² tn Aram “raised”; or perhaps “retained” (so NASB; cf. NLT), referring to the original foundations of Solomon’s temple.

[6:3]  ¹³ tc The Syriac Peshitta reads “twenty cubits” here, a measurement probably derived from dimensions given elsewhere for Solomon’s temple. According to 1 Kgs 6:2 the dimensions of the Solomonic temple were as follows: length, 60 cubits; width, 20 cubits; height, 30 cubits. Since one would expect the dimensions cited in Ezra 6:3 to correspond to those of Solomon’s temple, it is odd that no dimension for length is provided. The Syriac has apparently harmonized the width dimension provided here (“twenty cubits”) to that given in 1 Kgs 6:2.

[6:3]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “Its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

[10:6]  ¹⁵ tc The translation reads וַיָּלֶן (vayyalen, “and he stayed”) rather than the reading וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh, “and he went”) of the MT. Cf. the LXX.

[6:1]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “the house of the archives.”

[8:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”

[8:17]  ¹⁸ tc The translation reads with the LXX and Vulgate וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “and his brethren” = “relatives”; so NCV, NLT) rather than the reading אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”) of the MT.

[8:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:11]  ²⁰ sn The practice referred to in v. 11 has been understood in various ways: hanging (cf. 1 Esd 6:32 and KJV); flogging (cf. NEB, NLT); impalement (BDB 1091 s.v. זְקַף; HALOT 1914 s.v. מחא hitpe; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The latter seems the most likely.

[6:11]  ²¹ tn Aram “made.”

[6:11]  ²² tn Aram “a dunghill.”

[6:11]  ²³ tn Aram “for this.”

[4:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the people of the land.” Elsewhere this expression sometimes has a negative connotation, referring to a lay population that was less zealous for Judaism than it should have been. Here, however, it seems to refer to the resident population of the area without any negative connotation.

[4:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “were making slack the hands of.”

[6:12]  ²⁶ tn Aram “people.”

[6:12]  ²⁷ tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”

[1:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and he gave them.”

[4:8]  ²⁹ tn Aram “lord of the command.” So also in vv. 9, 17.

[4:8]  ³⁰ sn Like Rehum, Shimshai was apparently a fairly high-ranking official charged with overseeing Persian interests in this part of the empire. His title was “scribe” or “secretary,” but in a more elevated political sense than that word sometimes has elsewhere. American governmental titles such as “Secretary of State” perhaps provide an analogy in that the word “secretary” can have a broad range of meaning.

[4:8]  ³¹ tn Or perhaps “against.”

[4:10]  ³² tn Aram “Osnappar” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), another name for Ashurbanipal.

[4:10]  sn Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria in 669 B.C. Around 645 B.C. he sacked the city of Susa, capital of Elam, and apparently some of these people were exiled to Samaria and other places.

[4:10]  ³³ tc The translation reads with the ancient versions the plural בְּקֻרְיַהּ (bÿquryah, “in the cities”) rather than the singular (“in the city”) of the MT.

[4:10]  ³⁴ tn Aram “beyond the river.” In Ezra this term is a technical designation for the region west of the Euphrates river.

[6:18]  ³⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:18]  ³⁶ tn Aram “according to the writing of.”

[9:5]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew word used here is a hapax legomenon. It refers to the self-abasement that accompanies religious sorrow and fasting.

[5:14]  ³⁸ tn Or “temple.”

[5:14]  ³⁹ tn Aram “they were given.”

[2:1]  ⁴⁰ sn The list of names and numbers in this chapter of Ezra has a parallel account in Neh 7:6-73. The fact that the two lists do not always agree in specific details suggests that various textual errors have crept into the accounts during the transmission process.

[2:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the sons of.”

[2:1]  ⁴² tn The Hebrew term הָעֹלִים (ha’olim, “those who were going up” [Qal active participle]) refers to continual action in the past. Most translations render this as a simple past: “went up” (KJV), “came up” (RSV, ASV, NASV, NIV), “came” (NRSV). CEV paraphrases: “were on their way back.”

[2:1]  ⁴³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:2]  ⁴⁴ sn Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.

[3:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”

[3:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[3:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “arose and built.”

[3:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.

[3:10]  ⁴⁹ sn This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).

[3:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

[3:10]  ⁵¹ sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

[4:12]  ⁵² tn The MT takes this word with the latter part of v. 11, but in English style it fits better with v. 12.

[4:12]  ⁵³ sn Management of the provinces that were distantly removed from the capital was difficult, and insurrection in such places was a perennial problem. The language used in this report about Jerusalem (i.e., “rebellious,” “odious”) is intentionally inflammatory. It is calculated to draw immediate attention to the perceived problem.

[5:8]  ⁵⁴ tn Aram “stones of rolling.” The reference is apparently to stones too large to carry.

[5:11]  ⁵⁵ sn This great king of Israel would, of course, be Solomon.

[5:17]  ⁵⁶ tn Aram “if upon the king it is good.”

[5:17]  ⁵⁷ tn Aram “the house of the treasures of the king.”

[6:21]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “who had separated from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to them.”

[7:17]  ⁵⁹ tn Aram “their meal offerings and their libations.”

[9:11]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”

[9:11]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[3:8]  ⁶² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:8]  ⁶³ tn Heb “began”; the phrase “the work” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[3:8]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “their brothers.”

[3:8]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “stood.”

[3:8]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “from twenty years and upward.”

[9:1]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.” So also in v. 2.