Section 2:1–70

These are the Jews who returned from Babylon

2:1a Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles

¶ This is ⌊a record of⌋ the people who returned to the province ⌊of Judah⌋ after living as captives/prisoners ⌊in Babylon⌋.
-or-
¶ These are the descendants of families originally from ⌊Judah⌋ province who went back ⌊there, to their homeland⌋.

2:1b carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king.

⌊They are the people⌋ that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken by force to Babylon, far from their homeland.
-or-
Nebuchadnezzar, chief/ruler of Babylon, had captured ⌊their ancestors⌋ and taken them to Babylon ⌊many years earlier ⌋.

2:1c They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,

They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, ⌊and lived/settled⌋ in their respective towns.
-or-
And now they each went back to the town where their ancestors were from, some to Jerusalem and some to other towns in Judah ⌊province⌋.

2:1a–c (reordered)

These are the descendants of the people of Judah who had lived in Babylon, far from their homeland, after they had been taken to Babylon as captives by King Nebuchadnezzar. They went back to ⌊the city of⌋ Jerusalem and to ⌊the province of⌋ Judah, and settled in the towns where their ancestors used to live.
-or-
Many years before, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had conquered Judah and forced people from there to live in the kingdom/country of Babylon. Now their descendants returned to Jerusalem and to their home towns in Judah.

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