Opposition to the Rebuilding

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building^(A) a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel,

¹⁶ Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication^(A) of the house of God with joy.

The Passover

¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover.^{(A) 20} The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered^(B) the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves.

⁷ A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem.

¹⁶ So the exiles did as was proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, one from each family division, and all of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to investigate the cases,

¹³ So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?^(A)