Cyrus issued a decree that exiles should return and rebuild, just as Isaiah had prophesied two centuries earlier (Isaiah 44:28). The three main leaders of this time were Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

Zerubbabel led the people in the reigns of the Persian kings Cyrus and Darius.

Ezra and Nehemiah were leaders in the reign of Artaxerxes.

The return of the exiles to Judah, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, was accomplished in three main stages.

• The first and main party returns with Zerubbabel 538 BC.
  They rebuild the temple.
• A second party returns with Ezra about 80 years later.
  They make spiritual and religious restoration and reform.
• A third wave returns with Nehemiah in 445 BC.
  They rebuild the city walls and gates but not many houses.

When Zerubbabel led the first party of exiles back to Jerusalem, the first thing they rebuilt was the altar so that worship and sacrifice could begin again. They also managed to lay the foundations for a new temple.

There were mixed feelings. Some sang for joy at this beginning, but the old men who had seen the former temple wept loudly.