Ezra - Chapter 6

1. Then King Darius gave an order, and they searched in the library in which the archives were stored in Babylon.

2. And there was found in a pouch in the citadel of the province of Media one scroll, and so was written therein a memorandum:

3. In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus gave an order regarding the House of God in Jerusalem, that the House should be built, a place where they offer up sacrifices, and its walls should be founded, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits.

4. Three rows of marble and a row of new wood, and the expenditures shall be given from the royal house.

5. And also the vessels of the House of God, of gold and silver, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the Temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, let them be given over and brought to the Temple that is in Jerusalem to its place, and they shall be deposited in the House of God.

6. "Now Tattenai, the governor of the other side of the river, Shethar-Bozenai, and their companies, the Apharsechites, who are on the other side of the river, distance yourselves from there.

7. Leave the work of this House of God; [to] the governors of the Jews, and [to] the elders of the Jews, [I command] this House of God they shall build in its place.

8. And from me shall be issued an order regarding what you shall do with these elders of the Jews to build this House of God, and from the king's property from the taxes of the other side of the river [it shall] quickly [be built.] The expenses shall be given to these men so that they should not be disrupted.

9. And what they require, and young bulls, and rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the statement of the priests who are in Jerusalem, let it be given to them daily without delay.

10. That they should offer up pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the lives of the king and his children.

11. And an order is issued by me that whatever person disobeys this order, a beam shall be torn from his house, and a gallows [shall be made], upon which to place him, and his house shall be made a dungheap because of this.

12. And God, Who caused His name to rest there, will cast down any king or people that lays a hand to alter and destroy this House of God, which is in Jerusalem; I, Darius, have issued an edict; it shall be swiftly executed."

13. Then, Tattenai, the governor of the land beyond the river, Shethar-Bozenai, and their companies, in view of what King Darius had sent, as was said, acted swiftly.

14. And the elders of the Jews were building and succeeding with the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, and they built and founded it by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the king of Persia.

15. And the completion of this House was on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

16. And the Children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the members of the exile, performed the dedication of this House of God with joy.

17. And they offered up for the dedication of this House of God a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and twelve he-goats for sin-offerings for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

18. Now they set up the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their classes over the service of God, which was in Jerusalem, as is written in the Book of Moses.

19. Now the people of the exile made the Passover [offering] on the fourteenth of the first month.

20. For the priests and the Levites purified themselves as one, so they were all pure; and they slaughtered the Passover [offering] for all the people of the exile, and for their brethren, the priests, and for themselves.

21. And the Children of Israel, who had returned from the exile, and whoever separated from the defilement of the nations of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, partook [of it].

22. And they celebrated the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work of the House of God, the God of Israel.