Cyrus Helps the Jews to Return to Jerusalem
1It was the first year of the rule of Cyrus. He was king of Persia. The Lord inspired him to send a message all through his kingdom. It happened so that what the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah would come true. The message was written down. It said,
2“Cyrus, the king of Persia, says,
“ ‘The Lord is the God of heaven. He has given me all the kingdoms on earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem and build the Lord’s temple. He is the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And may their God be with them. 4The people still left alive in every place must bring gifts to the people going. They must provide silver and gold to the people going up to Jerusalem. The people must bring goods and livestock. They should also bring any offerings they choose to. All those gifts will be for God’s temple in Jerusalem.’ ”
5Then everyone God had inspired prepared to go. They wanted to go up to Jerusalem and build the Lord’s temple there. They included the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin. They also included the priests and Levites. 6All their neighbors helped them. They gave them silver and gold objects. They gave them goods and livestock. And they gave them gifts of great value. All those things were added to the other offerings the people chose to give.
7King Cyrus also brought out the objects that belonged to the Lord’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar had carried them off from Jerusalem. He had put them in the temple of his own god. 8Cyrus, the king of Persia, told Mithredath to bring them out. Mithredath was in charge of the temple treasures. He counted those objects. Then he gave them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
9Here is a list of the objects.
There were 30 gold dishes.
There were 1,000 silver dishes.
There were 29 silver pans.
10There were 30 gold bowls.
There were 410 matching silver bowls.
There were 1,000 other objects.
11The total number of gold and silver objects was 5,400.
Sheshbazzar brought all of these back with him to Jerusalem. So Sheshbazzar and the Jews who had been forced to leave Judah came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Ciro ajuda os exilados a regressarem
(2 Cr 36.22-23)
1No primeiro ano do rei Ciro, da Pérsia, cumprindo-se a profecia do Senhor, pronunciada pela boca de Jeremias, o Senhor despertou o espírito deste rei, levando-o a fazer a seguinte proclamação, através de todo o reino, a qual enviou também por escrito.
2Assim fala Ciro, rei da Pérsia,
Todos os reinos da Terra me foram dados pelo Senhor, o Deus dos céus, que me deu instruções para que lhe construísse um templo em Jerusalém, na terra de Judá. 3Todos os que são seu povo devem subir a Jerusalém de Judá, para reconstruir o templo do Senhor, o Deus de Israel, o Deus que habita em Jerusalém, e que Deus seja com eles! 4Aqueles, de entre os judeus, que não partirem, deverão contribuir para as despesas dos que forem a Jerusalém, fornecendo-lhes também vestuário, gado e mantimento para a viagem, além de uma oferta voluntária para o templo.
5Deus suscitou entre os chefes das tribos de Judá e de Benjamim, e entre os sacerdotes e levitas, um grande movimento de consagração, no sentido de regressarem a Jerusalém e de começarem logo a reconstrução do templo.
6Aqueles que optaram por ficar deram-lhes tudo o que puderam, em prata, ouro, roupa, gado e outras coisas de valor.
7O próprio rei Ciro devolveu as taças de ouro e outros objetos valiosos que Nabucodonozor levara do templo em Jerusalém e depositara no templo dos seus deuses. 8Nesse sentido, deu ordens a Mitredate, o tesoureiro do império, para que tais objetos fossem entregues a Sesbazar, o líder de todo o movimento de retorno a Judá.
9É esta a lista daquilo que Ciro devolveu:
30 salvas de ouro
1000 salvas de prata
29 incensários
1030 bacias de ouro maciço
410 bacias de prata, para várias funções
1000 outros objetos diversos.
11Foram ao todo 5400 os objetos de ouro e de prata entregues a Sesbazar para que os levasse a Jerusalém, ao sair da Babilónia, acompanhado de outros exilados.
