1And after these things, the heads of the ancestral houses were chosen to go up according to their tribes, along with their wives, their sons and daughters, their male and female servants, and their livestock.
2And Darius sent with them a thousand horsemen to escort them back to Jerusalem in peace, with musicians, tambourines, and flutes.
3And all their brothers were making merry, and he had them go up together with them.
4And these are the names of the men who were going up, according to their ancestral families within their tribes, in their respective jurisdictions.
5The priests, sons of Phinehas, son of Aaron: Jesus son of Jozadak, son of Seraiah; and Joachim son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, from the house of David, of the line of Perez, of the tribe of Judah,
6who spoke wise words before Darius, king of the Persians, in the second year of his reign, in the month of Nisan, the first month.
7Now these are the ones from Judea who came up from the captivity of the exile, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported to Babylon.
8and they returned to Jerusalem and the rest of Judea, each to his own town. They came with Zerubbabel and Jesus, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Resaiah, Enenius, Mordecai, Beelsarus, Aspharasus, Boroleius, Roeimus, and Baanah, their leaders.
9The number of the men of the nation and their leaders: the sons of Phoros, seventy-two thousand.
10The sons of Ares, seven hundred fifty-six.
11The sons of Phathaleimoab, namely of the sons of Jesus and Roboab, two thousand eight hundred two.
12The sons of Iolamos, two; the sons of Zaton, nine hundred seventy; the sons of Chorbe, seven hundred five; the sons of Banei, six hundred forty-eight.
13The sons of Bebai, six hundred thirty-three; the sons of Argai, one thousand three hundred twenty-two.
14The sons of Adoneikam, thirty-seven; the sons of Bosai, two thousand six hundred six; the sons of Aseiliou, four hundred fifty-four.
15The sons of Azer of Hezekiah; the sons of Keilan and Azetas, sixty-seven; the sons of Azarou, four hundred thirty-two.
16The sons of Anneis, one hundred one; the sons of Arom; the sons of Bassai, three hundred twenty-three; the sons of Arseiphoureith.
17The sons of Baiterous, three thousand five; the sons from Ragethlomon, one hundred twenty-three.
18Those from Netebas, fifty-five; those from Enatos, one hundred fifty-eight; those from Baitasmon Zammoth.
19Those from Kartatheiareios, twenty-five; those from Peiras and Berog, seven hundred.
20The Chadiasai and Ammidioi, four hundred twenty-two; those from Keiramas and Kabbes, six hundred twenty-one.
21Those from Makalon, one hundred twenty-two; those from Betolo, fifty-two; the Neipheis, one hundred fifty-six.
22The sons of Kalamokalos and Onous, seven hundred twenty-five; the sons of Ierechos, two hundred forty-five.
23The sons of Sama, three thousand three hundred one.
24The priests: the sons of Ieddos, the son of Jesus, namely, of the sons of Sanabeis, eight hundred seventy-two; the sons of Ermeros, two hundred fifty-two.
25The sons of Phassoros, one thousand two hundred forty-seven; the sons of Charye, two hundred seventeen.
26The Levites: the sons of Iesoueis, Kodoelos, Bannos, and Soudios, seventy-four.
27The sons of the temple singers, the sons of Asaph, one hundred twenty-eight.
28The gatekeepers, four hundred; the Ismaelou, sons of Lakoubatos, one thousand; the sons of Tobeis, in all one hundred thirty-nine.
29The temple servants: the sons of Esau, the sons of Taseipha, the sons of Tabaoth, the sons of Keras, the sons of Soua, the sons of Phalaios, the sons of Labana,
30the sons of Akoud, the sons of Outa, the sons of Ketab, the sons of Akaba, the sons of Sybaei, the sons of Anan, the sons of Koua, the sons of Keddour,
31the sons of Jairus, the sons of Daisan, the sons of Noeba, the sons of Chaseba, the sons of Kazera, the sons of Ozeiou, the sons of Phinoe, the sons of Asara, the sons of Basthai, the sons of Assana, the sons of Manei, the sons of Napheisei, the sons of Akouph, the sons of Acheiba, the sons of Asour, the sons of Pharakem, the sons of Basalem,
32the sons of Dedda, the sons of Bachous, the sons of Serar, the sons of Thomthei, the sons of Nasei, the sons of Hatepha.
33The sons of the servants of Solomon: the sons of Assapheioth, the sons of Phareida, the sons of Jeielei, the sons of Lozon, the sons of Isdael, the sons of Saphyei,
34the sons of Hagia, the sons of Phakareth Sabiei, the sons of Sarothei, the sons of Meisaias, the sons of Gas, the sons of Addous, the sons of Soubas, the sons of Apherra, the sons of Barodeis, the sons of Saphag, the sons of Allon.
35All the temple servants and the sons of the servants of Solomon were three hundred and seventy-two.
36These are the ones who came up from Thermeleth and Thelersas; their leaders were Charaathalan and Allar.
37But they could not declare their fathers’ houses or their lineage to show that they were from Israel: the sons of Asan son of Baenan, the sons of Nekodan, six hundred and fifty-two.
38And from the priests, those who laid claim to the priesthood but were not found: the sons of Hobbeia, the sons of Hakbos, the sons of Jaddous who had taken Augia, a wife from the daughters of Phaeldaeus, and was called by his name.
39And when the record of their ancestry was sought in the register and was not found, they were excluded from serving as priests.
40And Namias and Attharias told them not to partake of the holy things until a priest should arise wearing the Revelation and the Truth.
41All those of Israel, from twelve years old and upward, besides male and female servants, were forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty. Their male and female servants were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. The male and female singers were two hundred and forty-five.
42There were four hundred and thirty-five camels, seven thousand and thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five mules, and five thousand five hundred and twenty-five donkeys.
43And some of the leaders of the fathers’ houses, when they came to the temple of God in Jerusalem, vowed to erect the house on its site according to their ability,
44and to give to the sacred treasury for the works one thousand minas of gold, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priestly garments.
45And the priests and the Levites and some of the people settled in Jerusalem and the surrounding region, as did the temple singers and the gatekeepers; and all Israel settled in their villages.
46Now when the seventh month arrived, and the sons of Israel were each in their own possessions, they gathered with one accord into the open square of the first gate toward the east.
47And Jeshua son of Jozedek and his kinsmen the priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his kinsmen, stood up and prepared the altar of the God of Israel,
48to offer on it whole burnt offerings, in accordance with what was prescribed in the book of Moses the man of God.
49And people from the other nations of the land gathered to them, and the altar was set up on its site. For they were in enmity with them, and all the nations of the land prevailed against them. And they offered sacrifices at the proper time and burnt offerings to the Lord, morning and evening.
50And they kept the Festival of Booths as it is commanded in the law, with daily sacrifices, as was fitting.
51And after this, they offered the regular offerings, and the sacrifices for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and all the consecrated festivals.
52And all who had made a vow to God began to offer sacrifices to God from the new moon of the first month, though the temple of God had not yet been built.
53And they gave money to the stonecutters and carpenters, and drink, food, and carts to the Sidonians and Tyrians to bring cedar logs from Lebanon and transport them as rafts to the harbor of Joppa, according to the decree written for them by Cyrus king of the Persians.
54In the second month of the second year of their coming to the temple of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozedek, their kinsmen, the Levitical priests, and all who had come from the captivity to Jerusalem began their work.
55They laid the foundation of the temple of God on the new moon of the second month, in the second year of their arrival in Judea and Jerusalem.
56They appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to be over the works of the Lord. And Jeshua with his sons and kinsmen, and his brother Damadiel, and the sons of Jeshua Hemadaboun, and the sons of Judah son of Eliadoun, with their sons and kinsmen—all the Levites—stood together as one to supervise those doing the work in the house of the Lord. So the builders built the temple of the Lord.
57And the priests stood in their vestments with musical instruments and trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, praising and blessing the Lord according to the direction of David king of Israel.
58And they sang out with hymns, blessing the Lord: “For his goodness and his glory are forever to all Israel.”
59And all the people blew trumpets and shouted with a great voice, praising the Lord for the raising up of the house of the Lord.
60And many of the Levitical priests and the heads of their fathers’ houses—the elders who had seen the former house—came, and at the building of this one, they cried out with a great shout and weeping,
61and many with trumpets, and with a great voice of joy.
62so that the people could not hear the trumpets because of the people’s weeping. For the crowd was sounding the trumpets loudly, so that the sound was heard from far away.
63When the enemies of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin heard this, they came to find out what the sound of the trumpets was,
64and they learned that the exiles were building the temple for the Lord God of Israel.
65And approaching Zerubbabel and Jesus and the leaders of the families, they said to them, “We will build with you;
66for we listen to your Lord just as you do, and we will sacrifice to him, as we have since the days of Asbakaphath, king of the Assyrians, who brought us here.”
67But Zerubbabel, Jesus, and the leaders of the families of Israel said to them, “It is not for you to build the house for the Lord our God.
68For we alone will build for the Lord of Israel, according to what Cyrus, the king of the Persians, commanded us.”
69But the nations of the land harassed those in Judea and besieged them, hindering them from building.
70And by devising plots, stirring up the people, and forming conspiracies, they prevented the building from being completed throughout the entire life of King Cyrus. And they were hindered from building for two years, until the reign of Darius.
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