The Proclamation of Cyrus

¹Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he issued a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,[#Jer 29:10; #2Ch 36:22–23]

⁵Then the heads of the households of Judah and Benjamin, and the Levitical priests, with all those whose spirits God had stirred, rose up to go up to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.[#Php 2:13]

⁶So everyone all around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, gold, goods, animals, and precious things, besides all that was given voluntarily.

⁷Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord , which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and had put in the house of his gods.[#2Ki 24:13; 2Ch 36:7]

⁸Cyrus king of Persia even brought forth more for them, by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer and had them numbered for Sheshbazzar, who was the prince of Judah.[#Ezr 5:14]

⁹This is the number of them: thirty containers of gold, one thousand containers of silver, and twenty-nine knives.

¹⁰There were also thirty smaller bowls of gold, four hundred ten smaller bowls of silver (of lesser value), and one thousand other various containers.

¹¹All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.