Open English Translation EZRA Chapter 6

6 So King Dareyavesh (Darius) ordered that a search be conducted in all the archives where treasures had been deposited there in Babylon, 2 and one scroll was found in the fortress at Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this record had been made:

3 “In year one of Koresh the king, he made a decree about the house of God in Yerushalem:

‘Let the house be built in the same place where sacrifices were made. Establish its foundations and build it 27m high and 27m wide 4 with three layers of large stones and a layer of new timber. That should all be paid for from the royal treasury. 5 Also, the gold and silver containers from the house of God that Nevukadnetstsar had taken out from the Yerushalem temple and had brought to Babylon, must be returned to their places in the temple in Yerushalem. So you must put them in the house of God.’ ”

6 Therefore King Dareyavesh wrote: “Now to Governor Tattenai in the province west of the Euphrates, Shetar-Bozenai, and their companions, the officials who in that province:

Keep away from that place. 7 Leave alone the work on that house of God. Let the Jewish governor and elders build that temple in its place. 8 So here’s my decree about what should be done for those Jewish elders to build that house of God: Using the king’s treasures that come from the tribute of that west-Euphrates province, let those workers costs be regularly reimbursed so that the work doesn’t stop. 9 Whatever is needed (including young bulls, or rams, or lambs for burnt offerings to the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, according to the command of the priests in Yerushalem), let it be given to them day by day (that is, without delay), 10 so that they can be offering sweet-smelling sacrifices to the God of the heavens and praying for the life of the king and his sons. 11 Also I decree that any man who changes this edict should have a beam pulled from his house, and after it’s sharpened and set into the ground, then he should be impaled on it. Then his entire house should be made into a rubbish heap because of what he did. 12 May the God who has established his name there overthrow any king or person who makes any attempt to change this decree or to destroy that house of God in Yerushalem. I, Dareyavesh, have made a decree. Let it be done diligently.”

13 Then Tattenai, the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shetar-Bozenai, and their companions worked hard to follow the instructions sent by King Dareyavesh (Darius). 14 So the Jewish elders continued building, and they were encouraged by the prophesying of the prophet Haggai and Iddo’s son Zekaryah. As a result of the decrees of the Persian kings Koresh, and Dareyavesh and Artahshasta, they were able to fulfil God’s decree to rebuild the temple.[ref] 15 The rebuilt temple was finished in mid-March in the sixth year of King Dareyavesh’s reign.

16 Then the Israeli people, the priests, and the Levites, and the ones that had returned from exile, performed the dedication of this house of God with celebrations. 17 During the dedication, they offered a hundred bulls, two-hundred rams, and four-hundred lambs, as well as twelve male goats for a sin offering for all Israel (matching the number of the tribes). 18 Then they organised the priests to stand in their divisions and the Levites in their sections to serve the God who resides in Yerushalem, according to the instructions written by Mosheh (Moses).

19 So the people who’d returned from exile celebrated the ‘pass-over’ in late April.[ref] 20 The priests and Levites all had to be individually purified, and they slaughtered the lambs for all the exiles and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves. 21 Then all the Israelis ate the meal—those who’d returned from the exile and every one who’d separated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land in order to search for Israeli’s God Yahweh. 22 Then they happily enjoyed the Flat Bread Celebration for seven days, because Yahweh had made them happy, and had caused the Assyrian king to show favour to them, to assist their work rebuilding the house of God, the God of Israel.