Ezra 1

¹ Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia [*a], to fulfil the word of Yahweh that was spoken through Jeremiah [*b], Yahweh roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation and to have it publicly displayed throughout his kingdom:

² ‘Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia, “Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; he has ordered me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in Judah.

³ Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah to build the Temple of Yahweh, the God of Israel – he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

⁴ And let each survivor, wherever he lives, be helped by the people of that place with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, as well as voluntary offerings for the Temple of God which is in Jerusalem.” ‘

⁵ Then the heads of families of Judah and of Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, in fact all whose spirit had been roused by God, prepared to go and rebuild the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem;

⁶ and all their neighbours gave them every assistance with silver, gold, goods, cattle, quantities of costly gifts and with voluntary offerings of every kind.

⁷ King Cyrus took the vessels of the Temple of Yahweh which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and dedicated to the temple of his god.

⁸ Cyrus, king of Persia, handed them over to Mithredath, the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

⁹ The inventory was as follows: thirty golden bowls for offerings; one thousand and twenty-nine silver bowls for offerings;

¹⁰ thirty golden bowls; four hundred and ten silver bowls; one thousand other vessels.

¹¹ In all, five thousand four hundred vessels of gold and silver. Sheshbazzar took all these with him when the exiles travelled back from Babylon to Jerusalem.