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And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, giving useful advice in advance; because he had compassion on his people and on the flock that he had chosen;

But they laughed at the messengers of the LORD and despised their words and mocked his prophets until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and who had no compassion upon young men or virgins, nor upon the old men, nor upon babies; he delivered them all into his hand.

And all the vessels of the house of the LORD, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.

And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away captive to Babylon, where they became servants to him and to his sons until the LORD delivered the kingdom to the Persians;

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah the prophet might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying,

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has the LORD God of heaven given me; and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people with whom the LORD his God is pleased? Let him go up, and let him come to me.

NOW in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah the prophet might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house to the LORD the God of Israel, he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

And whosoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold and with goods and with beasts, together with the freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

Also Cyrus the king brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had brought forth out of Jerusalem and had given to the house of his gods;

NOW these are the inhabitants of the province who went up out of the captivity, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon and they returned again to Jerusalem and Judah, every one to his own city;

So the priests and the Levites and some of the people and the temple ministers and the porters and the Nethanites and those who dwelt in their cities returned every man to his place, and all Israel to their cities.

Then stood Joshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shelathiel and his brethren, and they built the altar to the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings upon it as it is written in the law of Moses the prophet of God.

Then stood Joshua with his brethren and his sons, Kadmiah and his sons, and the sons of Judah, together, to execute the work of the house of the LORD; also the sons of Hendar, with their sons and their brethren, the Levites.

And they sang together in unison in praising and giving thanks to the LORD because he is good, for his mercy endures for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

And in the reign of King Akhshirash, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

The copy of the letter that Tatnai, the governor on this side of the River, and Ashtanbozan and his companions on this side of the River, sent to Darius the king;

And this was the reply they gave us, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and this house that we are rebuilding was built many years ago, and was completed by a king of Israel and his princes.

And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God. which Nebuchadnezzar the king took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into his temple of Babylon, those vessels Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon and delivered to one whose name was Sheshmazzar, whom he had made governor;