GOD MOVES PEOPLE'S HEARTS
Key verse: 1,5
NIV
Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return(A)
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah,(B) the Lord moved the heart(C) of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed(D) me to build(E) a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4 And in any locality where survivors(F) may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold,(G) with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings(H) for the temple of God(I) in Jerusalem.’”(J)
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin,(K) and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved(L)—prepared to go up and build the house(M) of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold,(N) with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.[a](O) 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar(P) the prince of Judah.
9 This was the inventory:
| gold dishes | 30 |
| silver dishes | 1,000 |
| silver pans[b] | 29 |
| 10 gold bowls | 30 |
| matching silver bowls | 410 |
| other articles | 1,000 |
11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Cross references
- Ezra 1:1 : 1:1-3pp — 2Ch 36:22-23
- Ezra 1:1 : Jer 25:11-12; 29:10-14; Zec 1:12-16
- Ezra 1:1 : Ezr 6:22; 7:27
- Ezra 1:2 : S Jdg 4:10; Ps 72:11; Isa 41:2, 25; 44:28; 45:13; 46:11; 49:7, 23; 60:3, 10
- Ezra 1:2 : Hag 1:2
- Ezra 1:4 : Isa 10:20-22
- Ezra 1:4 : S Ex 3:22
- Ezra 1:4 : Nu 15:3; Ps 50:14; 54:6; 116:17
- Ezra 1:4 : Ps 72:8-11; Rev 21:24
- Ezra 1:4 : Ezr 3:7; 4:3; 5:13; 6:3, 14
- Ezra 1:5 : 2Ch 11:1, 3, 10, 12, 23; 15:2, 8-9; 25:5; 31:1; 34:9; Ezr 4:1; 10:9; Ne 11:4; 12:34
- Ezra 1:5 : ver 1; Ex 35:20-22; 2Ch 36:22; Hag 1:14; S Php 2:13
- Ezra 1:5 : Ps 127:1
- Ezra 1:6 : S Ex 3:22
- Ezra 1:7 : S 2Ki 24:13; S 2Ch 36:7, 10; Ezr 5:14; 6:5; Jer 52:17-19
- Ezra 1:8 : S 1Ch 3:18
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway
ESV
The Proclamation of Cyrus
1 (A)In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, (B)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so (C)that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and (D)he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—(E)he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, (F)everyone whose spirit (G)God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6 And all who were about them (H)aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 (I)Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that (J)Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8 Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of (K)Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to (L)Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 And this was the number of them: (M)30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
Read full chapterCross references
- Ezra 1:1 : For ver. 1-3, see 2 Chr. 36:22, 23
- Ezra 1:1 : Jer. 25:12, 13; 29:10
- Ezra 1:1 : ch. 5:13
- Ezra 1:2 : Isa. 44:28; [Isa. 45:1, 13]
- Ezra 1:3 : Dan. 6:26
- Ezra 1:5 : [Phil. 2:13]
- Ezra 1:5 : ver. 1
- Ezra 1:6 : [ch. 4:4]; Jer. 38:4
- Ezra 1:7 : ch. 5:14; 6:5
- Ezra 1:7 : 2 Kgs. 24:13; 2 Chr. 36:7
- Ezra 1:8 : ch. 4:7
- Ezra 1:8 : ch. 5:14
- Ezra 1:9 : [ch. 8:27; 1 Chr. 28:17]
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
INTRODUCTION TO EZRA
When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC, they deported the best people to Babylon. The Babylonian captivity was God's judgment on his idolatrous people. God's purpose was to lead them to repentance. The Babylonian captivity, according to Jeremiah's prophecy, was to last 7
years. Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon in 539 BC and allowed the first exiles led by Zerubbabel to return to build the temple. The temple was completed after much struggle in 516 BC--7
years after it had been destroyed. Ezra lived in Babylon. He led the second large group of exiles back to Jerusalem in 458 BC Ezra's mission was to be a shepherd and Bible teacher for the exiles who had forgotten God's laws and were wandering in a spiritual and moral wilderness. Nehemiah came a few years later (445 BC) and rebuilt the wall.
Ezra probably wrote 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Psalm 119. In Ezra 1-6, he writes about the first returnees. They had finished rebuilding the temple. In the remaining chapters, he describes his own ministry. He was concerned about the compromises and the idolatry which had corrupted the returned exiles. Ezra 7:1
is the key verse: 'For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.'
1. God keeps his word (1-4)
The Lord had promised that after 7
years the Jews exiled in Babylon could return to Jerusalem. God kept his word by allowing Cyrus king of Persia to conquer Babylon. Then he moved the king's heart to allow the exiles to return and rebuild the temple of the Lord. (See Isa 44:28; Jer 29:1
.) He acknowledged the God of heaven; he recognized that his power came from God, and he believed that God had appointed him to build the temple in Jerusalem (2). God controls history; sometimes he uses kings and worldly men to accomplish his purposes.
2. God moved the people's hearts (5-11)
At first, life in exile had been hard. After many years, however, they became Babylonians. The Jews bought into Babylon, and it was hard to leave and return to the devastated land of Judah. God moved the hearts of a few leaders to accept this mission and return to rebuild the temple.
Prayer: Lord, help me to see what you want to do in my time and accept your mission. Thank you for keeping your promises.
One Word: Accept God's mission
