Ezra 6:13–22

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

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 ¹were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And ²they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree ^bof Cyrus, ^cDarius, and ^dArtaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵This ¹temple was completed ²on 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 offered for the dedication of this temple 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 divisions and the Levites in ^btheir orders for the service of God ¹in Jerusalem, ^cas it is written in the book of Moses.

The Passover Observed

^19aThe exiles observed the Passover on ^bthe fourteenth of the first month.

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

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

²²And ^athey observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had caused them to rejoice, and ^bhad turned the heart of ^cthe king of Assyria toward them to ¹encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.