Ezra

The book of Ezra describes the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem, led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua, to rebuild the temple as prophesied by Jeremiah and decreed by King Cyrus. The Israelites gathered in Jerusalem, built the altar, and began constructing the temple, but their progress was hindered by enemies who wrote a letter of accusation to King Artaxerxes, causing the work to be interrupted. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the Israelites to continue building, and King Darius eventually confirmed Cyrus' decree, allowing the temple to be completed in the sixth year of his reign. The book also tells the story of Ezra, a scribe and priest, who was granted permission by King Artaxerxes to lead a group of Israelites from Babylon to Jerusalem, where he enforced the law of God and the law of the king, and dealt with the issue of the people's intermarriage with surrounding nations, leading to a pact to cast aside their foreign wives and children.