Ezra 4–6

OPPOSITION TO REBUILDING THE TEMPLE

4When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin^v heard that the returned exiles^Ew were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, ²they approached Zerubbabel and the family heads and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to him^F since the time King Esar-haddon of Assyria brought us here.”^x

³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of Israel’s families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God,^y since we alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”^{z 4}Then the people who were already in the land discouraged^B the people of Judah and made them afraid^aa to build. ⁵They also bribed officials to act against them to frustrate their plans^ab throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.^ac

OPPOSITION TO REBUILDING THE CITY

⁶At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus,^ad the people who were already in the land^ae wrote an accusation against the residents of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷During the time of King Artaxerxes of Persia,^af Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to King Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic^a and translated.

⁸Rehum the chief deputy and Shimshai the scribe^b wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes concerning Jerusalem as follows:

⁹From Rehum^D the chief deputy, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues—the judges and magistrates^E from Tripolis, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa^c (that is, the people of Elam),^{F 10}and the rest of the peoples whom the great and illustrious Ashurbanipal^G deported and settled in the cities of Samaria^d and the region west of the Euphrates River.^e

¹¹This is the text of the letter they sent to him:

To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men from the region west of the Euphrates River:

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you have returned to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and evil city, finishing its walls, and repairing its foundations. ¹³Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are finished,^f they will not pay tribute, duty, or land tax,^g and the royal revenue^F will suffer. ¹⁴Since we have taken an oath of loyalty to the king,^H and it is not right for us to witness his dishonor, we have sent to inform the king ¹⁵that a search should be made in your predecessors’ record books.^h In these record books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces. There have been revolts in it since ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. ¹⁶We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will not have any possession west of the Euphrates.

ARTAXERXES’S REPLY

¹⁷The king sent a reply to his chief deputy Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates River:

Greetings.

¹⁸The letter you sent us has been translated and read^Ii in my presence. ¹⁹I issued a decree and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has had uprisings against kings since ancient times, and there have been rebellions and revolts in it. ²⁰Powerful kings have also ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates River, and tribute, duty, and land tax were paid to them. ²¹Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a further decree has been pronounced by me.^{j 22}See that you not neglect this matter. Otherwise, the damage will increase and the royal interests^A will suffer.

²³As soon as the text of King Artaxerxes’s letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues,^k they immediately went to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE RESUMED

²⁴Now the construction of God’s house in Jerusalem had stopped and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.^l 5But when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo^m prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them, ²Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadakⁿ began to rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. The prophets of God^o were with them, helping them.

³At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues^p came to the Jews and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?”^{q 4}They also asked them, “What are the names of the workers^C who are constructing this building?” ⁵But God was watching^D over^r the Jewish elders. These men wouldn’t stop them until a report was sent to Darius, so that they could receive written instructions about this matter.

THE LETTER TO DARIUS

⁶This is the text of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues, the officials in the region, sent to King Darius. ⁷They sent him a report, written as follows:

To King Darius:

All greetings.

⁸Let it be known to the king that we went to the house of the great God in the province of Judah. It is being built with cut^E stones, and its beams are being set in the walls. This work is being done diligently and succeeding through the people’s efforts.^{a 9}So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” ¹⁰We also asked them for their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

¹¹This is the reply they gave us:

We are the servants of the God of the heavens and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.^{b 12}But since our ancestors angered the God of the heavens, he handed them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.^{c 13}However, in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, he issued a decree to rebuild the house of God.^{d 14}He also took from the temple in Babylon the gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and carried them to the temple in Babylon.^e He released them from the temple in Babylon to a man named Sheshbazzar, the governor by the appointment of King Cyrus.^{f 15}Cyrus told him, “Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.”^{g 16}Then this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of God’s house in Jerusalem.^h It has been under construction from that time until now,ⁱ but it has not been completed.

¹⁷So if it pleases the king, let a search of the royal archives^A in Babylon be conducted to see if it is true that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem.^j Let the king’s decision regarding this matter be sent to us.^k

DARIUS’S SEARCH

6King Darius gave the order, and they searched^l in the library of Babylon in the archives.^{Bm 2}But it was in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Mediaⁿ that a scroll was found with this record written on it:

³In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree^o concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:

Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained.^C Its height is to be ninety feet^D and its width ninety feet,^{p 4}with three layers of cut^E stones and one of timber.^q The cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.^{Fr 5}The gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon must also be returned. They are to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem where they belong^G and put into the house of God.^s

DARIUS’S DECREE

⁶Therefore, you must stay away from that place, Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your^H colleagues, the officials in the region.^{t 7}Leave the construction of the house of God alone. Let the governor^u and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

⁸I hereby issue a decree concerning what you are to do, so that the elders of the Jews can rebuild the house of God:

The cost is to be paid in full to these men out of the royal revenues^v from the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that the work will not stop. ⁹Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of the heavens, or wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given to them every day without fail,^{a 10}so that they can offer sacrifices of pleasing aroma to the God of the heavens and pray for the life of the king and his sons.^b

¹¹I also issue a decree concerning any man who interferes with this directive:

Let a beam be torn from his house and raised up; he will be impaled on it, and his house will be made into a garbage dump because of this offense.^{c 12}May the God who caused his name to dwell there^d overthrow any king or people who dares^A to harm or interfere with this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.

¹³Then Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues^e diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed. ¹⁴So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo.^f They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,^g Darius, and King Artaxerxes^h of Persia. ¹⁵This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adarⁱ in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

TEMPLE DEDICATION AND THE PASSOVER

¹⁶Then the Israelites, including the priests, the…