Ezra 6:16–22

TEMPLE DEDICATION AND THE PASSOVER

16 Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of God’s house they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, as well as twelve male goatsj as a sin offering for all Israel—one for each Israelite tribe. 18 They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the book of Moses.k

19 The exilesl observed the Passoverm on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20 All of the priests and Levites were ceremonially clean, because they had purified themselves. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves, their priestly brothers, and all the exiles.n 21 The Israelites who had returned from exileo ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the landB,p in order to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven daysq with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported themA in the work on the house of the God of Israel.r