Ezra

In 538 BC, Cyrus the Great announces freedom for Israelites in Babylon. Ezra chronicles their journey home and their rebuilding of the temple.

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Seventy Years, Three Returns, Ezra proclaims a fast, Cyrus the Great


 

SUMMARY

 

Title

The title comes from the major person in the second half of the book.

 

Author

Though Ezra is not referred to in the book as the author, Hebrew tradition considers Ezra the author. And among Christians, Ezra has long been considered the book’s author.

 

Date

The most recent events described in the book took place about 450 BC. So it would not have been written earlier than that.

In general, the Book of Ezra covers two distinct time periods:

Chapters 1-6 cover the 23 years from the edict of Cyrus to the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem (538-515 BC).

Chapters 7-10 deal with the events after Ezra returned from Babylon in 458 BC.

 

Purpose

Ezra writes to encourage the exiles who had returned.

He calls them to be involved in true temple worship.

He calls them to fulfill their covenantal obligations because of the mercy of the LORD God.

And he calls them to depend on the LORD God.

 


 

OUTLINE

 

Cyrus the Great sets them Free

Ezra 1:1-4. Cyrus proclaims freedom

Ezra 1:5-11. The Persians give them gifts

Ezra 2:1-67. Fifty thousand exiles depart from Babylon

Ezra 2:68-70. After a 900-mile walk, they arrive in Jerusalem

Ezra 3:1-7. They rebuild the altar

Ezra 3:8-13. They rebuild the temple

Ezra 4:1-6. Adversaries arrive

Ezra 4:7-22. The adversaries deceive the king

Ezra 4:23-24. The rebuilding is halted

Ezra 5:1-5. They start rebuilding again

Ezra 5:6-17. The governor objects

Ezra 6:1-5. King Darius searches the archives

Ezra 6:6-15. Darius reauthorizes the temple project

Ezra 6:16-18. The Jewish people rededicate the temple

Ezra 6:19-22. The Jewish people celebrate the Passover

 

The Mission of Ezra

Ezra 7:1-10. Ezra is sent to Jerusalem

Ezra 7:11-26. The orders from king Artaxerxes

Ezra 7:27-28. Ezra praises the LORD God

Ezra 8:1-14. The people who return with Ezra

Ezra 8:15-20. Ezra asks Levites to join them

Ezra 8:21-23. Ezra proclaims a fast

Ezra 8:24-30. They guard the valuables

Ezra 8:31-36. They arrive in Jerusalem

Ezra 9:1-15. Many of them had intermarried

Ezra 10:1-17. They admit marrying unbelievers

Ezra 10:18-44. The list of offenders

 


 

MEMORIZE

 

Ezra 7:10. For Ezra had set his heart to seek the LORD’s law, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

Great verses to memorize from the entire Bible

 


 

CYRUS THE GREAT

 

King Cyrus II of Persia is commonly known as “Cyrus the Great.” He founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire. He reigned from 550 to 530 BC.

 

2 Chronicles 36:22. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the LORD’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

Ezra 1:1. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the LORD’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

1 Esdras 2:1. In the first year of King Cyrus of the Persians, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremy might be accomplished,

 


EZRA

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Seventy Years, Three Returns, Ezra proclaims a fast, Cyrus the Great

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.