Study Desk

Nebuchadnezzar also carried off many of the valuable things in the Lord 's temple, and he put them in his palace in Babylon.

Everything else Jehoiakim did while he was king, including all the disgusting and evil things, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin then became king.

He disobeyed the Lord his God and refused to change his ways, even after a warning from Jeremiah, the Lord 's prophet.

But the Lord God felt sorry for his people, and instead of destroying the temple, he sent prophets who warned the people over and over about their sins.

Nebuchadnezzar carried off everything that was left in the temple; he robbed the treasury and the personal storerooms of the king and his officials. He took everything back to Babylon.

The survivors were taken to Babylonia as prisoners, where they were slaves of the king and his sons, until Persia became a powerful nation.

In the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord had Cyrus send a message to all parts of his kingdom. This happened just as Jeremiah the Lord 's prophet had promised.

The message said: I am King Cyrus of Persia. The Lord God of heaven has made me the ruler of every nation on earth. He has also chosen me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. The Lord God will watch over any of his people who want to go back to Judah.

Years ago the Lord sent Jeremiah with a message about a promise for the people of Israel. Then in the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord kept his promise by having Cyrus send this official message to all parts of his kingdom:

I am King Cyrus of Persia. The Lord God of heaven, who is also the God of Israel, has made me the ruler of all nations on earth. And he has chosen me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. The Lord God will watch over and encourage any of his people who want to go back to Jerusalem and help build the temple.

Many people felt that the Lord God wanted them to help rebuild his temple, and they made plans to go to Jerusalem. Among them were priests, Levites, and leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

King Cyrus gave back the things that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord 's temple in Jerusalem and had put in the temple of his own gods.

Cyrus placed Mithredath, his chief treasurer, in charge of these things. Mithredath counted them and gave a list to Sheshbazzar, the governor of Judah.

The families of Habaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai could not prove that they were priests. The ancestor of the family of Barzillai had married the daughter of Barzillai from Gilead and had taken his wife's family name. But the records of these three families could not be found, and none of them were allowed to serve as priests.

The priest Joshua son of Jozadak, together with the other priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his relatives rebuilt the altar of Israel's God. Then they were able to offer sacrifices there by following the instructions God had given to Moses.

The Levites in charge of the whole project were Joshua and his sons and relatives and Kadmiel and his sons from the family of Hodaviah. The family of Henadad worked along with them.

They praised the Lord and gave thanks as they took turns singing: "The Lord is good! His faithful love for Israel will last forever." Everyone started shouting and praising the Lord because work on the foundation of the temple had begun.

Then the Lord God of Israel told the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to speak in his name to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And they did.

Governor Tattenai of Western Province and his assistant Shethar Bozenai got together with some of their officials. Then they went to Jerusalem and said to the people, "Who told you to rebuild this temple?

But God was looking after the Jewish leaders. So the governor and his group decided not to make the people stop working on the temple until they could report to Darius and get his advice.