6
1 Then
Darius the king
made a decree,
and the house
of the archives,
where the
treasures were
laid up in Babylon,
was searched.
2 A
scroll was found
at Achmetha, in
the palace that
is in the
province of Media,
and in it this was
written for a
record:
3 In
the first year
of Cyrus the
king, Cyrus the
king made a
decree: Concerning God’s
house at Jerusalem, let
the house be
built, the place
where they offer
sacrifices, and let its foundations
be strongly laid,
with its height
sixty cubits
and its width
sixty cubits;
4 with
three courses of
great stones and
a course of
new timber. Let the
expenses be given
out of the
king’s house.
5 Also let
the gold and
silver vessels
of God’s house,
which Nebuchadnezzar
took out of
the temple which
is at Jerusalem
and brought
to Babylon, be
restored and
brought again to
the temple which
is at Jerusalem, everything
to its place.
You shall put them
in God’s house.
6 Now
therefore, Tattenai,
governor beyond
the River, Shetharbozenai,
and your
companions the Apharsachites,
who are beyond
the River, you must
stay far from
there.
7 Leave
the work of
this house of God
alone; let the
governor of the
Jews and the
elders of the
Jews build this
house of God in its
place.
8 Moreover I
make a
decree regarding what
you shall do
for these elders
of the Jews
for the building
of this house
of God: that of
the king’s goods,
even of the
tribute beyond the
River, expenses must
be given with all
diligence to these
men, that they
not be hindered.
9 That
which they have
need of, including
young bulls, rams,
and lambs, for
burnt offerings to
the God of heaven;
also wheat, salt,
wine, and oil,
according to the
word of the
priests who are
at Jerusalem, let
it be given
them day by
day without fail,
10 that
they may offer
sacrifices of pleasant aroma
to the God of
heaven, and pray
for the life
of the king
and of his
sons.
11 I
have also made
a decree
that whoever alters this message,
let a beam be pulled
out from his
house, and let him
be lifted up
and fastened on it;
and let his house
be made a
dunghill for this.
12 May the God
who has caused his
name to dwell
there overthrow
all kings and
peoples who stretch
out their hand
to alter this,
to destroy this
house of God which
is at Jerusalem.
I Darius have
made a decree. Let
it be done with
all diligence.
13 Then
Tattenai, the
governor beyond
the River, Shetharbozenai,
and their companions
did accordingly
with all diligence, because
Darius the king
had sent a decree.
14 The
elders of the
Jews built and
prospered, through the
prophesying of
Haggai the prophet
and Zechariah the
son of Iddo. They
built and finished
it, according to
the commandment of
the God of Israel,
and according to
the decree of
Cyrus, Darius,
and Artaxerxes king
of Persia.
15 This
house was finished
on the third
day of the
month Adar, which
was in the
sixth year of
the reign of
Darius the king.
16 The
children of Israel,
the priests, the
Levites, and the
rest of the
children of the
captivity, kept
the dedication of
this house of God
with joy.
17 They
offered at the
dedication of this
house of God one
hundred bulls, two
hundred rams, four
hundred lambs; and
for a sin
offering for all
Israel, twelve
male goats, according
to the number
of the tribes
of Israel.
18 They
set the priests
in their divisions
and the Levites
in their courses,
for the service
of God which is
at Jerusalem, as
it is written
in the book
of Moses.
19 The
children of the
captivity kept the
Passover on the
fourteenth day of
the first month.
20 Because
the priests and
the Levites had
purified themselves together,
all of them
were pure. They
killed the
Passover for all
the children of
the captivity, for
their brothers the
priests, and for
themselves.
21 The
children of Israel
who had returned
out of the
captivity, and all
who had separated themselves
to them from
the filthiness of
the nations of
the land to seek
the LORD, the
God of Israel, ate,
22 and
kept the feast
of unleavened
bread seven days
with joy; because
the LORD had
made them joyful,
and had turned
the heart of
the king of Assyria
to them, to
strengthen their
hands in the
work of God,
the God of
Israel’s house.