Ezra 6

Darius’s Search

6King Darius gave the order, and they searched ^ain the library of Babylon in the archives. ^bc2But it was in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Media ^dthat a scroll was found with this record written on it:

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

Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained. ^fIts height is to be 90 feet ^gand its width 90 feet, ^hij4with three layers of cut ^kstones and one of timber. ^lThe cost is to be paid from the royal treasury. ^m5The 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 ⁿand put into the house of God. ^o

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 ^pcolleagues, the officials in the region. ^q7Leave the construction of the house of God alone. Let the governor ^rand elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

⁸I hereby issue a decree concerning what you must 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 ^sfrom 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 heaven, or wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given to them every day without fail, ^t10so that they can offer sacrifices of pleasing aroma to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ^u

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. ^v12May the God who caused His name to dwell there ^woverthrow any king or people who dares ^xto 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 ^ydiligently 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. ^zThey finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, ^aDarius, and King Artaxerxes ^bof Persia. ¹⁵This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar ^cdin the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Temple Dedication and the Passover

¹⁶Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. ¹⁷For the dedication of God’s house they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs, as well as 12 male goats ^eas a sin offering for all Israel—one for each Israelite tribe. ¹⁸They 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. ^f

¹⁹The exiles ^gobserved the Passover ^hon the fourteenth day of the first month. ²⁰All 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. ⁱ²¹The Israelites who had returned from exile ^jate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land ^klin order to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel. ²²They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days ^mwith joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them ⁿin the work on the house of the God of Israel. ^o