The book of Ezra begins in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia who made an edict that the Jews could go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it and the temple. This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah (and Isaiah) that the exile would come to an end in seventy years. Jews came from all over the land, plus, Cyrus requested that they be given gold, silver, goods, livestock, and freewill offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem. The first order of business was to build the altar, and then they gave sacrifices, even though the foundations of the temple had not yet been laid. The people who had lived in the land, offered to help build it, but Zerubbabel, a descendant of king David, said "No, only the Israelites should build it, just as King Cyrus declared." The people of the land were enemies of the Jews, and they tried to discourage with fear tactics as well as hire people to work against the Jews. The young Israelites rejoiced at being home and building the temple, but the older people who had seen the glory of Solomon's temple, who remembered how it used to be, cried.
