Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:² “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. ⁵ Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.

以斯拉記 1:波斯王居魯士元年，耶和華為要應驗藉耶利米的口所說的話，就激發波斯王居魯士的心，使他下詔書通告全國，說：² 「波斯王居魯士如此說：耶和華天上的　神已將地上萬國賜給我，又委派我在猶大的耶路撒冷為他建造殿宇。 ³ 你們中間凡作他子民的，可以上猶大的耶路撒冷去，重建耶和華—以色列　神的殿，他是在耶路撒冷的　神；願　神與這人同在。 ⁴ 凡存留的人，無論寄居何處，那地的人要用金銀、財物、牲畜幫助他，還要為耶路撒冷　神的殿甘心獻上禮物。⁵ 於是，猶大和便雅憫的族長、祭司、利未人，凡是心被　神感動的人都起來，要上耶路撒冷去建造耶和華的殿。

Babylon destroyed the temple and forced the people of God to go to Babylon. But amazingly, God moved Cyrus, King of Persia, to allow the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Then “everyone [rose up] whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem”. It was not enough for Cyrus to be stirred up by God to permit the Israelites to go back to Jerusalem. Many also needed to act and to follow. After having settled in Babylon for 70 years, they needed to pack up and leave their comfortable, new home.  God cares that His temple be rebuilt; do we care? As we “shelter at home”, let this not be an idle time or a pause in our lives but a time to rethink what we are building with our lives. May God’s spirit stir up our hearts today to care for what God cares for, then to arise and build “the house of the Lord”!

巴比倫摧毀了聖殿，並迫使上帝的子民去了巴比倫。 但令人驚訝的是，上帝激發了波斯王居魯士，讓猶太人返回耶路撒冷重建聖殿。 於是“凡是心被　神感動的人都起來，要上耶路撒冷去建造耶和華的殿”。 單單居魯士被上帝激發允許以色列人返回耶路撒冷是不夠的。 還要許多人回應並採取行動。 在巴比倫定居70年後，他們需要收拾行裝，離開舒適的新家。 上帝在乎祂的聖殿被重建。 我們在乎嗎？ 當我們“居家避疫”時，不要讓這成為閒暇時光或生活中的停頓，而是重新思考我們在生活中正在建設的. 願上帝的靈今天激動我們的心在乎神所在乎的，興起並建造“耶和華的殿”！