The return to Jerusalem
Ezra 1:1-11
Cyrus, king of Persia, let God’s people go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. When the foundations were laid, some wept and others shouted for joy. Years later Ezra, the teacher of the Law, arrived. Ezra 1:1-11
The story, in plain words
In his first year, Cyrus, king of the Persians, issued a decree throughout his kingdom. This fulfilled what God had said through the prophet Jeremiah. Ezra 1:1
Cyrus said that the God of heaven had charged him to build him a Temple, his house, in Jerusalem. Anyone who belonged to God’s people could go and build it. Ezra 1:2-3
The heads of families set out, with the priests and everyone whose heart God had moved. Ezra 1:5
Cyrus gave back to them the sacred objects that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple. Ezra 1:7 In the seventh month, the people gathered in Jerusalem as one. Ezra 3:1…
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See the mapWhat the Bible says
Ezra 1:1-11
1In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians: and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and in writing also, saying: 2Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: The Lord the God of heaven hath given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. 3Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord the God of Israel: he is the God that is in Jerusalem. 4And let all the rest in all places wheresoever they dwell, help him every man from his place. with silver and gold, and goods, and cattle, besides that which they offer freely to the temple of God, which is in Jerusalem. 5Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Juda and Benjamin, and the priests, and Levites, and every one whose spirit God had raised up, to go up to build the temple of the Lord, which was in Jerusalem. 6And all they that were round about, helped their hands with vessels of silver, and gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with furniture, besides what they had offered on their own accord. 7And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which Nabuchodonosor had taken from Jerusalem, and had put them in the temple of his god. 8Now Cyrus king of Persia brought them forth by the hand of Mithridates the son of Gazabar, and numbered them to Sassabasar the prince of Juda. 9And this is the number of them: thirty bowls of gold, a thousand bowls of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty cups of gold, 10Silver cups of a second sort, four hundred and ten: other vessels a thousand. 11All the vessels of gold and silver, five thousand four hundred: all these Sassabasar brought with them that came up from the captivity of Babylon to Jerusalem.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
To talk about together
- The old men wept and many others shouted for joy. Why do you think each one reacted differently?
- Before raising the Temple, they built the altar. What do you think they meant by that?
- For the child: What would you like to build together with your family?