Daily Text and Bible Reading: Wednesday, May 29 [Press play below]

1.1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that Jehovah’s word spoken by Jeremiah would be fulfilled, Jehovah stirred the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his kingdom, which he also put in writing, saying:
1.2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says, ‘Jehovah the God of the heavens has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has commissioned me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
1.3 Whoever there 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 Jehovah the God of Israel—he is the true God—whose house was in Jerusalem.
1.4 Anyone who is residing as a foreigner, wherever he may be, let him be helped by his neighbors by their giving him silver and gold, goods and livestock, along with the voluntary offering for the house of the true God, which was in Jerusalem.’”
1.5 Then the heads of the paternal houses of Judah and of Benjamin and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit the true God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of Jehovah, which was in Jerusalem.
1.6 All those around them supported them by giving them utensils of silver and of gold, goods, livestock, and valuable things, besides all the voluntary offerings.
1.7 King Cyrus also brought out the utensils of the house of Jehovah that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had put in the house of his god.
1.8 King Cyrus of Persia brought them out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who made an inventory of them for Sheshbazzar the chieftain of Judah.
1.9 Now this was the inventory: 30 basket-shaped vessels of gold, 1,000 basket-shaped vessels of silver, 29 replacement vessels,
1.10 30 small gold bowls, 410 small silver bowls, 1,000 other utensils.
1.11 All the utensils of gold and of silver were 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of these up when the exiles were brought out of Babylon to Jerusalem.

2.1 And these were the people of the province who came up from the captives of the exile, those whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had exiled to Babylon and who later returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city,
2.2 those who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the Israelite men included:
2.3 the sons of Parosh, 2,172;
2.4 the sons of Shephatiah, 372;
2.5 the sons of Arah, 775;
2.6 the sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812;
2.7 the sons of Elam, 1,254;
2.8 the sons of Zattu, 945;
2.9 the sons of Zaccai, 760;
2.10 the sons of Bani, 642;
2.11 the sons of Bebai, 623;
2.12 the sons of Azgad, 1,222;
2.13 the sons of Adonikam, 666;
2.14 the sons of Bigvai, 2,056;
2.15 the sons of Adin, 454;
2.16 the sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, 98;
2.17 the sons of Bezai, 323;
2.18 the sons of Jorah, 112;
2.19 the sons of Hashum, 223;
2.20 the sons of Gibbar, 95;
2.21 the sons of Bethlehem, 123;
2.22 the men of Netophah, 56;
2.23 the men of Anathoth, 128;
2.24 the sons of Azmaveth, 42;
2.25 the sons of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;
2.26 the sons of Ramah and Geba, 621;
2.27 the men of Michmas, 122;
2.28 the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;
2.29 the sons of Nebo, 52;
2.30 the sons of Magbish, 156;
2.31 the sons of the other Elam, 1,254;
2.32 the sons of Harim, 320;
2.33 the sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725;
2.34 the sons of Jericho, 345;
2.35 the sons of Senaah, 3,630.
2.36 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;
2.37 the sons of Immer, 1,052;
2.38 the sons of Pashhur, 1,247;
2.39 the sons of Harim, 1,017.
2.40 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74.
2.41 The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128.
2.42 The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, altogether 139.
2.43 The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,
2.44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon,
2.45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub,
2.46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Salmai, the sons of Hanan,
2.47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah,
2.48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam,
2.49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai,
2.50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephusim,
2.51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur,
2.52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,
2.53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah,
2.54 the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.
2.55 The sons of the servants of Solomon: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Peruda,
2.56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,
2.57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Ami.
2.58 All the temple servants and the sons of the servants of Solomon were 392.
2.59 And these went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they were unable to verify their paternal house and their origin, as to whether they were Israelites:
2.60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 652.
2.61 And of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name.
2.62 These looked for their records to establish their genealogy, but they did not find them, so they were disqualified from the priesthood.
2.63 The governor told them that they could not eat from the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.
2.64 The total number of the entire congregation was 42,360,
2.65 apart from their male and female slaves, who were 7,337; they also had 200 male and female singers.
2.66 Their horses were 736, their mules 245,
2.67 their camels 435, their donkeys 6,720.
2.68 When they arrived at the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the paternal houses made voluntary offerings for the house of the true God, to rebuild it on its own site.
2.69 According to their means, they gave to the project treasury 61,000 gold drachmas, 5,000 silver minas, and 100 robes for the priests.
2.70 And the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants settled in their cities, and all the rest of Israel settled in their cities.

3.1 When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were in their cities, they gathered together with one accord in Jerusalem.
3.2 Jeshua the son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers rose up and built the altar of the God of Israel, so that they could offer up burnt sacrifices on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of the true God.
3.3 So they set the altar up on its former site, despite their fear of the peoples of the surrounding lands, and they began offering up burnt sacrifices to Jehovah on it, the morning and the evening burnt sacrifices.
3.4 Then they held the Festival of Booths according to what is written, and day by day they offered up the specified number of burnt sacrifices that were required each day.
3.5 Afterward they offered up the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the new moons and those for all the sanctified festival seasons of Jehovah, as well as those from everyone who willingly offered a voluntary offering to Jehovah.
3.6 From the first day of the seventh month they started to offer up burnt sacrifices to Jehovah, though the foundation of Jehovah’s temple had not yet been laid.
3.7 They gave money to the stonecutters and the craftsmen, and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians for bringing cedar timbers by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, according to the authorization granted them by King Cyrus of Persia.
3.8 In the second year after they came to the house of the true God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jehozadak and the rest of their brothers, the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come to Jerusalem out of the captivity started the work; they appointed the Levites from 20 years old and up to serve as supervisors over the work of the house of Jehovah.
3.9 So Jeshua, his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, joined together to supervise those doing the work in the house of the true God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons and their brothers, the Levites.
3.10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, then the priests in official clothing, with the trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with the cymbals, stood up to praise Jehovah according to the direction of King David of Israel.
3.11 And they began to sing in response by praising and giving thanks to Jehovah, “for he is good; his loyal love toward Israel endures forever.” Then all the people shouted with a loud shout of praise to Jehovah because the foundation of the house of Jehovah had been laid.
3.12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the heads of the paternal houses—the old men who had seen the former house—wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, while many others shouted joyfully at the top of their voice.
3.13 So the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouts from the sound of the weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly that the sound was heard from a great distance.