World English Bible · The Persian return
Ezra 7
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Now after these things, in the reign of king of , the son of , the son of , the son of Hilkiah, the son of , the son of Zadok, the son of , 3the son of , the son of , the son of , 4the son of , the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of , the son of , the son of , the son of the — this went up from . He was a skilled in of , which , the of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to his hand on him. Some of the , including some of the priests, the , the singers, the gatekeepers, and servants went up to in the seventh year of the king. 8He came to in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from ; and on the first day of the fifth month he came to , according to the good hand of his on him. For had set to seek law, and to do it, and to teach and ordinances in Israel. Now this is the copy of the letter that King gave to the priest, the , even the of the words of , and of his to Israel: , king of kings, To the priest, the of of the perfect of . Now I make a that all those of the people of Israel and their priests and the in my realm, who intend of their own free will to go to , go with you. Because you are sent by the king and his seven to inquire concerning Judah and , according to of your which is in your hand, and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his have freely offered to the of Israel, whose habitation is in , and all the silver and gold that you will find in all the province of , with the free will of the people and of the priests, willingly for the house of their which is in . Therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs with their and their drink , and shall offer them on the of the house of your which is in . Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that according to the will of your . The vessels that are given to you for the of the house of your , before the of . Whatever more will be needed for the house of your , which you may have occasion to give, give it out of the king's house. I, even I, the king, make a to all the treasurers who are beyond , that whatever the priest, the of of the of , requires of you, it shall be done with all diligence, up to one hundred of silver, and to one hundred cors of wheat, and to one hundred baths of , and to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. Whatever is commanded by the of , let it be done exactly for the house of the of ; for why should there be against the realm of the king and his sons? Also we inform you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on any of the priests, , singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, or laborers of this house of . You, , according to the of your that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are beyond , who all know the laws of your ; and teach him who doesn't know them. Whoever will not do of your and of the king, let be executed on him with all diligence, whether it is to , or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. be , the of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's , to beautify house which is in ; and has extended to me before the king and his , and before all the king's mighty princes. I was strengthened according to my hand on me, and I gathered together chief men out of Israel to go up with me.
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The world at this moment · The Persian return, 539 BC to 332 BC ›
Persia takes Babylon and reverses its policy, sending exiled peoples home to rebuild their temples. Judah returns as a small province, rebuilding under imperial permission rather than independence.
- Persia
- The largest empire the world had yet seen, from the Indus to the Aegean, run through provinces, a royal road, and a postal system. Its policy on conquered peoples was to send them home and fund their temples, in exchange for loyalty and prayers for the king. The Cyrus Cylinder states the policy in Cyrus's own words, and Ezra opens with the same policy applied to Judah.
- Judah
- A small, poor province called Yehud, a fraction of the old kingdom, with a rebuilt temple that made the people who remembered the first one weep. No king, and no prospect of one. Leadership passes to priests and scribes, which shapes everything afterward.
- Greece
- Persia and Greece collide at Marathon and Salamis, Persia loses, and Athens spends the following decades on the Parthenon, tragedy, and Socrates. Herodotus writes the first history in order to explain that war. Then Plato and Aristotle, whose vocabulary the church will still be using at Nicaea eight centuries later.
- Further afield
- Rome throws out its kings and becomes a republic. In India and China this is the age of the Buddha's early followers and of Confucian teaching taking hold. More of what the world still thinks with was invented in this era than in almost any other.