TSK · Ezra 2:1

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.

The first to resettle on their property and in their cities were some Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.

He deported to Babylon all who escaped the sword. They served him and his sons until the Persian kingdom rose to power.

Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.

These are the people of the province who returned from the captivity of the exiles, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his own city.

¶ The King Throws a Lavish Party The following events happened in the days of Ahasuerus.(I am referring to that Ahasuerus who used to rule over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces extending all the way from India to Ethiopia.)

There were no restrictions on the drinking, for the king had instructed all of his supervisors that they should do as everyone so desired.

The king’s scribes were quickly summoned– in the third month(that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day. They wrote out everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia– a hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all– to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.

The Fall of Jerusalem Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

ה(He) Her foes subjugated her; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD afflicted her because of her many acts of rebellion. Her children went away captive before the enemy.

Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah will take possession of it. By the sea they will graze, in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening, for the LORD their God will intervene for them and restore their prosperity.