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Nebuchadnezzar had taken many Jews away from the land of Judah. He had forced them to go to Babylon as prisoners. Now they returned to Jerusalem and Judah. All of them went back to their own towns. Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. 2 The leaders of the Jews included Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah and Reelaiah. They also included Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah. Here is a list of the men of Israel who returned home.
3 There were 2,172 from the family line of Parosh.
4 There were 372 from Shephatiah.
5 There were 775 from Arah.
6 There were 2,812 from Pahath-Moab through the family line of Jeshua and Joab.
7 There were 1,254 from Elam.
8 There were 945 from Zattu.
9 There were 760 from Zakkai.
10 There were 642 from Bani.
11 There were 623 from Bebai.
12 There were 1,222 from Azgad.
13 There were 666 from Adonikam.
14 There were 2,056 from Bigvai.
15 There were 454 from Adin.
16 There were 98 from Ater through the family line of Hezekiah.
17 There were 323 from Bezai.
18 There were 112 from Jorah.
19 There were 223 from Hashum.
20 There were 95 from Gibbar.
21 There were 123 from the men of Bethlehem.
22 There were 56 from Netophah.
23 There were 128 from Anathoth.
24 There were 42 from Azmaveth.
25 There were 743 from Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth.
26 There were 621 from Ramah and Geba.
27 There were 122 from Mikmash.
28 There were 223 from Bethel and Ai.
29 There were 52 from Nebo.
30 There were 156 from Magbish.
31 There were 1,254 from the other Elam.
32 There were 320 from Harim.
33 There were 725 from Lod, Hadid and Ono.
34 There were 345 from Jericho.
35 There were 3,630 from Senaah.
36 Here is a list of the priests.
There were 973 from the family line of Jedaiah through the line of Jeshua.
37 There were 1,052 from Immer.
38 There were 1,247 from Pashhur.
39 There were 1,017 from Harim.
40 Here is a list of the Levites.
There were 74 from the family lines of Jeshua and Kadmiel. Kadmiel was from the line of Hodaviah.
41 Here is a list of the musicians.
There were 128 from the family line of Asaph.
42 Here is a list of the men who guarded the temple gates.
There were 139 from the family lines of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai.
43 Here is a list of the members of the family lines of the temple servants.
Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
44 Keros, Siaha, Padon,
45 Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,
46 Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,
47 Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,
48 Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,
49 Uzza, Paseah, Besai,
50 Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim,
51 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
52 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
53 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
54 Neziah, Hatipha
55 Here is a list of the members of the family lines of the servants of Solomon.
Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,
56 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,
57 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim, Ami
58 The total number of the members of the family lines of the temple servants and the servants of Solomon was 392.
59 Many people came up to Judah from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer. But they weren't able to prove that their families belonged to the people of Israel.
60 There were 652 of them from the family lines of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda.
61 Here is a list of the members of the family lines of the priests.
They were Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai. Barzillai had married a daughter of Barzillai from Gilead. So he was also called Barzillai.
62 The priests looked for their family records. But they couldn't find them. So they weren't able to serve as priests. They were ‘unclean’. 63 The governor gave them an order. He told them not to eat any of the most sacred food. They had to wait until there was a priest who could use the Urim and Thummim. The priest would use them to find out what the Lord wanted the people to do.
64 The total number of the entire group that returned was 42,360. 65 That didn't include their 7,337 male and female slaves. There were also 200 male and female singers. 66 And there were 736 horses, 245 mules, 67 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
68 All the people arrived at the place in Jerusalem where the Lord's temple would be rebuilt. Then some of the leaders of the families brought offerings they chose to give. They would be used for rebuilding the house of God. It would stand in the same place it had been before. 69 The people gave money for the work. It was based on how much they had. They gave 510 kilograms of gold. They also gave 3 tonnes of silver. And they gave 100 sets of clothes for the priests. All of that was added to the temple treasure.
70 The priests and Levites made their homes in their own towns. So did the musicians, the men who guarded the gates, and the temple servants. The rest of the Israelites also made their homes in their own towns.
1:1–2:70 Cyrus announced an important message in the year 538 BC. He allowed the Jews living in Babylon to return to Judah. Many years before, Nebuchadnezzar had forced them to leave the southern kingdom and live in Babylon. This was the exile of the southern kingdom. A prophecy from the book of Isaiah had talked about the Jews returning. It said that God would stir up Cyrus to let the Jews return (Isaiah 45:13). This means that God inspired Cyrus to make that decision. Jeremiah had prophesied about the time God's people spent in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:1–9). They would be there so long that Babylon would become their home. They would have families, work hard and grow food. Jeremiah also prophesied that one day God would bring them back to their land (Jeremiah 29:10–14). That was the land God had promised to give them in his covenant with Abraham. When that time came, most of the Jews taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar had already died. Their children and grandchildren were fully settled in Babylon. Few of them wanted to move to the land of their people from long ago. Only those whom God inspired returned. Most of these were priests, Levites and people from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Jews who returned were to build a temple for God in Jerusalem. That was part of Cyrus' order. Cyrus made sure that they had everything they needed to do this. In the year 586 BC Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the temple built when Solomon was king. At that time Nebuchadnezzar had removed the objects used for worshipping God in the temple. Cyrus gave those objects back to the Jews who returned to Judah. Cyrus also ordered the people to give gifts to the Jews. These gifts and offerings came from Jews who stayed in Babylon. They also came from others who lived there. This was like what happened when God rescued the Israelites from being slaves in Egypt. At the time of the exodus, the Egyptians gave the Israelites many gifts. Later those gifts were used to make the holy tent. The gifts from people in Babylon were used to make the second temple.