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 neighbours 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.
1Pers Kralı Koreş'in krallığının birinci yılında RAB, Yeremya aracılığıyla bildirdiği sözünü yerine getirmek amacıyla, Pers Kralı Koreş'i harekete geçirdi. Koreş yönetimi altındaki bütün halklara şu yazılı bildiriyi duyurdu: (2Ch 36:22)2‹‹Pers Kralı Koreş şöyle diyor: ‹Göklerin Tanrısı RAB yeryüzünün bütün krallıklarını bana verdi. Beni Yahuda'daki Yeruşalim Kenti'nde kendisi için bir tapınak yapmakla görevlendirdi.3Aranızda O'nun halkından kim varsa Tanrısı onunla olsun. Yahuda'daki Yeruşalim Kenti'ne gidip İsrail'in Tanrısı RAB'bin, Yeruşalim'deki Tanrı'nın Tapınağı'nı yeniden yapsınlar.4Krallığımda yaşayan yerliler, sürgün oldukları yerlerde sağ kalmış olanlara altın, gümüş, mal ve hayvanlar sağlamakla birlikte Yeruşalim'deki Tanrı'nın Tapınağı'na gönülden sunular sunsun.› ››
Sürgündekilerin Yeruşalim'e Dönüşü
5Böylece Yahuda ve Benyamin oymaklarının boy başları, kâhinler, Levililer ve ruhları Tanrı tarafından harekete geçirilen herkes, RAB'bin Yeruşalim'deki Tapınağı'nı yeniden yapmak için gidiş hazırlıklarına girişti.6Komşuları gönülden verdikleri armağanların yanısıra, altın, gümüş kaplar, mal, hayvan ve değerli armağanlarla onları desteklediler.7-8Pers Kralı Koreş de Nebukadnessar'ın Yeruşalim'deki RAB'bin Tapınağı'ndan alıp kendi ilahının tapınağına koymuş olduğu kapları çıkardı. Bunları hazine görevlisi Mitredat'a getirterek sayımını yaptırdı ve Yahuda önderi Şeşbassar'a verdi.9Sayım sonucu şuydu:1030 altın tas11Altın ve gümüş eşyaların toplamı 5 400 parçaydı. Sürgünler Babil'den Yeruşalim'e dönerken Şeşbassar bunların hepsini birlikte getirdi.