Ezra 5

5¹But when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo ^dprophesied 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 Jozadak ^ebegan to rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. The prophets of God ^fwere with them, helping them.

³At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues ^gcame to the Jews and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” ^hi4They also asked them, “What are the names of the workers ^jwho are constructing this building?” ⁵But God was watching ^kover ^lthe 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 ^mstones, and its beams are being set in the walls. This work is being done diligently and succeeding through the people’s efforts. ⁿ⁹So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” ^o10We 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 heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. ^p12But since our fathers angered the God of heaven, He handed them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon. ^q13However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, he issued a decree to rebuild the house of God. ^r14He 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. ^sHe released them from the temple in Babylon to a man named Sheshbazzar, the governor by the appointment of King Cyrus. ^t15Cyrus told him, “Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.” ^u16Then this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of God’s house in Jerusalem. ^vIt has been under construction from that time until now, ^wyet it has not been completed.

¹⁷So if it pleases the king, let a search of the royal archives ^xin 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. ^yLet the king’s decision regarding this matter be sent to us. ^z