King James Version · 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 ; and he was a ready in of , which of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of his upon him. And there went up some of the , and of the priests, and the , and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto , in the seventh year of the king. 8And he came to in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from , and on the first day of the fifth month came he to , according to the good hand of his upon him. For had prepared to seek of , and to do it, and to teach in Israel and judgments. Now this is the copy of the letter that the king gave unto the priest, the , even a of the words of of , and of his to Israel. , king of kings, unto the priest, a of of the of , perfect peace, and at such a time. I make a , that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and , in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to , go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and , according to of thy which is in thine hand; And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the of Israel, whose habitation is in , And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of , with the freewill of the people, and of the priests, willingly for the house of their which is in : That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat and their drink , and offer them upon the of the house of your which is in . And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your . The vessels also that are given thee for the of the house of thy , those thou before the of . And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy , which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s house. And I, even I the king, do make a to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever the priest, the of of the of , shall require of you, it be done speedily, Unto an hundred of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of , and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. Whatsoever is commanded by the of , let it be diligently done for the house of the of : for why should there be against the realm of the king and his sons? Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and , singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of , it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them. And thou, , after the of thy , that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy ; and teach ye them that know them not. And whosoever will not do of thy , and of the king, let be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto , or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. be of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s , to beautify the which is in : And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of my was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
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.