Ezra 1

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, so that the word of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians, and he sent out a proclamation through all his kingdom, and put it in writing as well, saying:

2 Thus says Cyrus king of the Persians: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he himself has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Who is there among you, out of all his people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and let him build the house of the God of Israel — he is the God who is in Jerusalem. [a] 4 And every one who is left, from all the places where he lives as a foreigner — the men of his place are to help him with silver and gold and goods and cattle, along with the gift of his own choice for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

5 Then the leaders of the families of Judah and Benjamin rose up, and the priests and the Levites — every one whose spirit God had stirred up — to go up and build the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. [b] 6 And all who were around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods and with cattle and with presents, besides the gifts of their own choice.

7 And King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem and had put in the house of his god. 8 Cyrus king of the Persians brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar the leader of Judah. [c]

9 And this is their number: thirty gold basins, and a thousand silver basins, twenty-nine assorted pieces, [e] 10 thirty gold bowls, and two hundred silver ones, and a thousand other vessels. [f] 11 All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred — all of them going up with Sheshbazzar from the exile, from Babylon to Jerusalem. [g]