13 “However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decreel to rebuild this house of God. 14 He even removed from the templeb of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the templec in Babylon.m Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar,n whom he had appointed governor, 15 and he told him, ‘Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.’

16 “So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of Godo in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.”

17 Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archivesp of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

The Decree of Darius

6 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archivesq stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:

Memorandum:

3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:

Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid.r It is to be sixty cubitsa high and sixty cubits wide, 4 with three coursess of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.t 5 Also, the goldu and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.v

6 Now then, Tattenai,w governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenaix and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. 7 Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.

8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:

Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury,y from the revenuesz of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offeringsa to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.b

11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaledc on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble.d 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there,e overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.

I Dariusf have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

Completion and Dedication of the Temple

13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associatesg carried it out with diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preachingh of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,i Dariusj and Artaxerxes,k kings of Persia.