Cyrus king of Persia permitteth the Iewes to returne into their countrie: 10. and deliuereth to them the holie vessels, which Nabuchodonosor had taken from the temple. 16. Certaine aduersaries writing to king Artaxerxes, hinder those that would repayre the ruines of Ierusalem.
CYRVS king of the Persians reigning for the accomplishment of the word of our Lord by the mouth of Ieremie, (2 Par 36:22 / 1 Esd 1:1 / 1 Esd 6:3 / Jer 25:12 / Jer 29:10 / Dan 9:2) 2 our Lord raysed vp the spirit of Cyrus king of / the Persians, and he proclaymed in al his kingdomes, and that by writing, 3 saying: Thus sayth Cyrus king of the Persians: The Lord of Israel, the high Lord, hath made me king ouer the whole earth. 4 and hath signified to me to build him a house in Ierusalem, which is in Iurie. 5 If there be any of your kinred, his Lord goe vp with him into Ierusalem. 6 Whosoeuer therefore dwel about the places, let them helpe them that are in the same place, in gold and siluer, 7 in giftes, with horses, and beastes, and with other thinges which by vowes are added into the temple of our Lord, which is in Ierusalem. 8 And the princes of the tribes, of the villages and of Iurie, of the tribe of Beniamin, & the Priestes, and the Leuites standing vp, whom our Lord moued to goe vp, and to build the house of our Lord which is in Ierusalem, and they that were round about them, 9 did helpe them with al their gold and siluer, and beastes, and manie whose minde was stirred vp, with many vowes. 10 And Cyrus the king brought forth the sacred vessel of our Lord, which Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon transported out of Ierusalem, and consecrated them to his Idol. 11 And Cyrus the king of Persians bringing them forth, deliuered them to Mithridatus, who was ouer his treasures. 12 And by him they were deliuered to Salmanasar president of Iurie. 13 And of these this was the number: Cuppes for libamentes of siluer two thousand foure hundred, basens of siluer thirtie: phials of gold thirtie, also of siluer two thousand foure hundred: and other vessels a thousand. 14 and al the vessels of gold and siluer, were fiue thousand eight hundred sixtie. 15 And they were numbered to Salmanasar together with them, that came out of the captiuite of Babylon into Ierusalem. 16 But in the times of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, there wrote to him of them that dwelt in Iurie and Ierusalem, Balsamus, and Mithridatus, and Sabellius, and Rathimus, Balthemus, Sabellius scribe, and the rest dweling in Samaria, and other places the epistle folowing to king Artaxerxes. (1 Esd 4:7) 17 SIR, thy seruantes Rathimus ouer occurrentes, and Sabellius the scribe, and the other iudges of thy court in Caelesyria, and Phenice. 18 And now be it knowen to our Lord the king, that Iewes came vp from you to vs, coming into Ierusalem a rebellious, & very naughty citie, do build the fornaces thereof, and set vp the walles, and rayse the temple. 19 And if this citie, and the walles shal be finished, they wil not onlie not abyde to pay tributes, but also wil resist the kinges. 20 And because that is in doing about the temple, we thought it should doe wel not to neglect this same thing: 21 but to make it knowen to our Lord the king, that if it shal seme good, o king it may be sought in the bookes of thy fathers, 22 and thou shalt find in the recordes, thinges writen of these, and thou shalt know that this citie hath bene rebellious, and trubling kinges, and cities, 23 and the Iewes rebelles, & making battels in it from time out of mind, for the which cause this citie was made desolate. 24 Now therfore we doe thee to vnderstand, Lord king, that if this citie shal be built, and the walles therof shal be erected, there wil be no comming downe for thee into Caelesyria, & Phenice. 25 Then wrote the king to Rathimus, the writer of the occurrentes, and to Balthemus, and to Sabellius the scribe, and to the rest ioyned with them, and to the dwellers in Syria, and Phenice, as foloweth: 26 I haue read the epistle that you sent me. I commanded therfore search to be made, & it was found that the same citie is from the beginning rebellious to kinges, 27 and the men rebelles, and making battels in it, & there were most valient kinges ruling in Ierusalem, and exacting tributes in Caelesyria, & Phenice. 28 Now therfore I haue geuen commandment to forbid those men to build the citie, and to stay them that nothing be done more then is: 29 and that they proceeded not farder, wherof are euils, so that there may be truble brougt vpon the kinges. 30 Then these things being read which were writen of king Artaxerxes, Rathimus, and Sabellius the scribe, and they that were apointed with them ioyning together in hast came to Ierusalem with a troupe of horsemen, and multitude, & companie: 31 and they begane to forbid the builders, and they ceased from building of the temple in Ierusalem, til in the second yeare of the reigne of Darius king of the Persians.
CHAP. III.
After a solemne supper made to al the court, and chief princes, king Darius sleeping: 4. three esquires of the bodie keeping watch, proposed the question: 10. VVhether wine, or a King, or wemen, or the truth doth excel? 17. The first prayseth wine.
KING Darius made a great supper to al his domestical seruantes, and to al the magistrates of Media and Persia, 2 and to al that were purple, and to the praetors, and counsuls, and liuetenantes vnder him from India vnto AEthiopia, an hundred twentie seuen prouinces. 3 And when they had eaten and drunken, and returned ful, then Darius went vp into his chamber, and slept, and awaked. 4 Then those three youngmen kepers of his bodie, which garded the kings bodie, sayd one to an other; 5 Let euerie one of vs say a word that may excel: & whose word soeuer shal appeare wiser then the others, to him wil king Darius geue great giftes, 6 to be couered with purple, & to drinke in gold, and to sleepe vpon gold, & a chariote with a bridle of gold, & a bonet of silke, and a cheyne about his necke: 7 and he shal sit in the second place next Darius for his wisdome. And he shal be called the cosin of Darius. 8 Then euerie one writing his word signed it, and they put it vnder the pillow of Darius the king, 9 and they sayd. When the king shal rise, we wil geue him our writinges: and which soeuer of the three the king shal iudge, and the magistrates of Persia, that his word is the wiser, to him shal the victorie be geuen as is writen. 10 One wrote: Wine is strong. 11 An other wrote, a King is stronger. 12 The third wrote, Wemen are more strong: but aboue al thinges truth ouercometh. 13 And when the king was risen, they tooke their writinges, and gaue him, and he read. 14 And sending he called al the Magistrates of Persians, and the Medes, and them that weare purple, and the pretors, and the ouerseers; 15 and they sate in the councel: and the writinges were read before them. 16 And he sayd: Cal the youngmen, and they shal declare their owne wordes. And they were called, and went in. 17 And he sayd to them: Declare vnto vs concerning these thinges which are writen. And the first began, he that had spoken of the strength of wine, 18 and sayd: O ye men, how doth wine preuaile ouer al men that drinke! it seduceth the minde. 19 And also the mind of king and orphane it maketh vaine. Also of the bondman and the free, of the rich man and the poore, 20 and euerie mind it turneth into securitie and pleasantnes, and it remembreth not any sorow and dewtie, 21 and al hartes it maketh honest, and it remembreth not king, nor magistrate, and it maketh a man speake al thinges by talentes. 22 And when they haue drunke, they remember not frendship, nor brotherhood: yea and not long after they take swordes. 23 And when they are recouered and risen from the wine, they remember not what they haue done. 24 O ye men, doth not wine excel? who thinketh to doe so? And hauing sayd this, he held his peace.
CHAP. IIII.
The second prayseth the excellencie of a king: 13. The third (which is Zorobabel) commendeth wemen: 33. but preferreth truth aboue al. 41. VVhich is so approued, and he is rewarded. 42. The king moreouer at his request restoreth the holie vessels of the temple, and granteth meanes to build the citie of Ierusalem, and the temple.
AND the next began to speake, he that spake of the strength of a king. 2 O ye men doe not the men excel, which obteyne land and sea, and al thinges that are in them? 3 But a king excelleth aboue al thinges, and hath dominion ouer them: and euerie thing whatsoeuer he shal say to them, they doe. 4 And if he send them to warryers, they goe, and throw downe mountaines, and the walles, and towers. 5 They kil, and are killed: and the kinges word they transgresse not. For if they shal ouercome, they bring to the king al thinges whatsoeuer they haue taken for a praye. 6 In like maner also al others, for so many as are not souldiars, nor fight, but til the ground: when they shal reape, againe they bring tributes to the king. 7 And he being one onlie if he say: Kil ye, they kil: say he: forgeue, the forgeue. 8 say he: strike: they strike: say he, destroy, they destroy: say he build, they build. 9 say he, cut downe, they cut downe, say he plant, they plant: 10 and al the people, & potestates here him, and beside this he sitteth downe, and drinketh, and sleepeth. 11 And others gard him round about, and can not goe euerie one, and doe their owne workes, but at a word are obedient to him. 12 O ye men, how doth not a king excel that is so renowmed? And he held his peace. 13 The third that spake of wemen and truth, this is Zorobabel, began to speake. 14 O ye men, not the great king, & many men, neither is it wine that dothe excel. Who is it then that hath the dominion of them? 15 Haue not wemen brought forth the king, and al the people, that ruleth ouer land & sea: 16 and were they not borne of them, and did not they bring vp them which planted the vineyardes, whereof wine is made? 17 And they make the garmentes of al men, & they doe honor to al men, and men can not be separed from wemen. 18 If they haue gathered gold and siluer, and euerie beutiful thing, & see a woman comelie and fayre, 19 leauing al these thinges they fixe their looke vpon her, & with open mouth beholde her, and allure her more then gold and siluer, and euerie precious thing. 20 Man forsaketh his father that brought him vp, and his countrie, and ioyneth himself to a woman. 21 And with a woman he refresheth his soul: and neither doth he remember father, nor mother, nor countrie. 22 And hereby you must know that wemen rule ouer you. Are you not sorie? 23 And a man taketh his sword, & goeth into the way to commit theftes and murders, & to sayle seas & riuers, 24 and seeth a lyon, and goeth in darkenes: and when he hath committed theft, and fraude, and spoyles, he bringeth it to his beloued. 25 And againe, man loueth his wife more then father or mother. 26 And many haue become madde for their wiues: and haue been made bondmen for them: 27 and many haue perished and bene slayne, and haue sinned for wemen. 28 And now beleue me, that the king is great in his powre: because al countries are afrayd to touch him. 29 Neuertheles I saw Apemes the daughter of Bezaces the concubine of a meruelous king, sitting by the king at his right hand, 30 and taking of the crowne from his head, and putting it vpon her self, and with the palme of her left hand she stroke the king. 31 And beside these thinges he with open mouth beheld her: and if she smiled he laugheth, and if she be angrie with him, he flattereth, til he be reconciled to her fauour. 32 O ye men, why are not wemen stronger? Great is the earth, and high is the heauen: who doeth these thinges? 33 And then the king and they that weare purple looked one vpon an other. And he began to speake of truth. 34 O ye men, are not wemen strong? The earth is great and heauen is high: & the swift course of the sunne turneth the heauen round into his place in one day. 35 Is not he magnifical that doth these thinges, and the truth great, and stronger aboue al thinges? 36 Al the earth calleth vpon the truth, heauen also blesseth it, and al workes are moued, and tremble at it, and there is not any thing with it vniust. 37 Wine is vniust, the king is vniust, wemen are vniust, al the sonnes of men are vniust, and al their workes are vniust, and in them is not truth, and they shal perish in their iniquitie: 38 and truth abydeth, and groweth strong for euer, and liueth, and preuayleth for euer and euer. 39 Neither is there with it acception of persons, nor differences: but the thinges that are iust it doth to al men, to the vniust and malignant, and al men are wel pleased in the workes thereof. 40 And there is no vniust thing in the iudgement therof, but strength, and reigne, and power, and maiestie of worldes. Blessed be the God of truth. 41 And he left speaking. And al the people cryed, and sayd: Great is truth and it preuaileth. 42 Then the king sayd to him: Aske, if thou wilt any more, then the thinges that are writen, and I wil geue it thee, according as thou art found wiser then thy neighbours, & thou shalt sitte next to me, and shalt be called my cosin. 43 Then sayd he to the king: Be midful of thy vow, which thou hast vowed, to build Ierusalem in the day that thou didst receiue the kingdom: 44 and to send backe al the vessels that were taken out of Ierusalem, which Cyrus separated, when he sacked Babylon, and would haue sent them backe thither. 45 And thou hast vowed to build the temple, which the Idumeians burnt, when Iurie was destroyed of the Chaldees. 46 And now this is that which I aske Lord, & which I desire, this is the maiestie which I desire of thee, that thou performe the vowe which thou hast vowed to the king of heauen by thy mouth. 47 Then Darius the king rising vp, kissed him: and wrote letters to al the officers, and ouerseers, and them that weare purple, that they should conduct him, and them that were with him, al going vp to build Ierusalem. 48 And to al the ouerseers that were in Syria, and Phoenice, and Libanus he wrote letters, that they should draw Ceder trees from Libanus into Ierusalem, to build the citie with them. 49 And he wrote to al the Iewes which went vp from the kingdome into Iurie for libertie, euerie mightie man, & magistrate, & ouerseer not to come vpon them to their gates, 50 and al the countrie which they had obtayned to be free vnto them, & that the Idumeians leaue the castels which they possesse of the Iewes, 51 and to the building of the temple to geue euerie yeare twentie talentes vntil it were throughly built: 52 & vpon the altars to burne holocausts dayly, as they haue commandment: to offer other ten talentes euery yeare, 53 & to al that go forth from Babylon to build the citie, that there should be libertie as wel to them as to their children, and to al the priestes that goe before. 54 And he wrote a quantitie also, and commanded the sacred stole to be geuen, wherein they should serue; 55 and to the Leuites he wrote to geue preceptes, vntil the day wherein the house shal be finished, and Ierusalem builded. 56 And to al that kepe the citie, he wrote portions and wages to be geuen to them. 57 And he sent away al the vessels whatsoeuer Cyrus had separated from Babylon, and al thinges whatsoeuer Cyrus sayd, he also commanded to be donne, and to be sent to Ierusalem. 58 And when that yong man was gone forth, lyfting vp his face toward Ierusalem, he blessed the king of heauen, 59 & sayd: Of thee is victorie, and of thee is wisdome, and glorie. And I am thy seruant. 60 Blessed art thou which hast geuen me wisedom, and I wil confesse to thee Lord God of our fathers. 61 And he toke the letters, and went into Babylon. And he came, and told al his brethren that were in Babylon: 62 and they blessed the God of their fathers, because he gaue them remission and refreshing, 63 that they should goe vp and build Ierusalem, and the temple wherein his name was renowmed, and they reioyced with musike and ioy seuen dayes.
CHAP. V.
Those that returned from captiuitie of Bablyon into Ierusalem, and Iurie, are recited. 47. They restore Gods seruice: 66. but are hindered from building.