Ezra 6:13–22

The Dedication of the House of God

¹³Then ^aTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent.

¹⁴And ^athe elders of the Jews were building and succeeding through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. So they built and completed it according to the decree of the God of Israel and the decree ^bof Cyrus, ^cDarius, and ^dArtaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵And this house was brought to completion ¹on the third day of the ^amonth Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹⁶And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the ¹exiles, ^acelebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

¹⁷They brought near for the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel ^a12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁸Then they appointed the priests to ^atheir sections and the Levites in ^btheir divisions for the service of God ¹in Jerusalem, ^cas it is written in the book of Moses.

Passover Celebrated

^19aAnd the exiles celebrated the Passover on ^bthe fourteenth of the first month.

^20aFor the priests and the Levites had cleansed themselves together; all of them were clean. Then ^bthey slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves.

²¹Then the sons of Israel who returned from exile and ^aall those who had separated themselves from ^bthe uncleanness of the nations of the land to join them, to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ate the Passover.

²²And ^athey celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with gladness, for Yahweh had caused them to be glad and ^bhad turned the heart of ^cthe king of Assyria toward them to ¹strengthen them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.