The Altar Is Built and Daily Offerings Begin
Then the seventh month came, and athe sons of Israel were in the cities. And the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then aJeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and bZerubbabel the son cof Shealtiel and his brothers arose and dbuilt the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, eas it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. 3 So they set up the altar on its foundation, for athey were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they boffered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 They celebrated the aFeast of Booths, bas it is written, and offered the fixed number of burnt offerings daily, caccording to the legal judgment, as each day required; 5 and afterward there was a acontinual burnt offering, also bfor the new moons and cfor all the appointed times of Yahweh that were set apart as holy, and from everyone who offered a freewill offering to Yahweh. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh, but the foundation of the temple of Yahweh had not been laid. 7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and afood, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, bto bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at cJoppa, according to the permission they had from dCyrus king of Persia.
The Foundation of the Temple of Yahweh
8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem in the second month, aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and bappointed the Levites from twenty years and older to direct the work of the house of Yahweh. 9 Then aJeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to direct those who do the work in the house of God.
10 So the builders alaid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh. Then the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Yahweh baccording to the directions of King David of Israel. 11 aAnd they sang, praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, saying, “bFor He is good, for His lovingkindness endures forever upon Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Yahweh because the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid. 12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, athe old men who had seen the first house of Yahweh, were weeping with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many in loud shouts with gladness were raising their voice, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the voices of the shouting of gladness from the voices of the weeping of the people, for the people were shouting with a loud shout, and those voices were heard far away.
Adversaries Discourage the Work
Then athe adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that bthe people of the exile were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel, 2 so they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; aand we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of bEsarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” 3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “aYou have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, bas King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”
4 So athe people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and dismayed them from building, 5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 Now in the reign of aAhasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated afrom Aramaic.
The Letter to King Artaxerxes
8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows—
9 then wrote Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and athe rest of their colleagues, the judges and bthe lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,
10 and the rest of the nations, which the great and honorable Osnappar took away into exile and settled in the city of Samaria and in the rest of the region beyond the River. aAnd now—
11 this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him:
“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men in the region beyond the River, and now—
12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding athe rebellious and evil city and bare completing the walls and repairing the foundations.
13 Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are completed, athey will not give tribute, custom, or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings.
14 Now because we are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore we have sent and made known to the king,
15 that a search be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will find in the record books and come to know that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore that city was laid waste.
16 We make known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls completed, as a result you will have no portion in the province beyond the River.”
A Decree Makes the Men Stop Rebuilding
17 Then the king sent an edict to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River: “Peace. And now— 18 the document which you sent to us has been aplainly read before me.
19 So a decree has been issued by me, and a search has been made and it has been found that that city has lifted itself up against the kings in past days, that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it,
20 athat strong kings have been over Jerusalem, even rulers in all the provinces bbeyond the River, and that ctribute, custom, and toll were given to them.
21 Now issue a decree to make those men stop, that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me.
22 And beware of being negligent in doing this matter; why should harm increase to damage the kings?”
23 Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force and military.
24 Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Rebuilding the House of God Begins Again
And the prophets, aHaggai the prophet and bZechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and bthe prophets of God were with them supporting them.
3 At that time aTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them thus, “bWho issued you a decree to rebuild this house and to complete this structure?” 4 aThen we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were rebuilding this building. 5 But athe eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could come to Darius, and then a document be returned concerning this.
Tattenai and Others Write to King Darius
6 This is the copy of the letter which aTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues bthe officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7 They sent word to him in which it was written thus:
“To Darius the king, all peace.
8 Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, and it is being built with huge stones, and timber is being put within the walls; and that work is going on with all diligence and is succeeding in their hands.
9 Then we asked those elders and said to them thus, ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this house and to complete this structure?’
10 And we also asked them their names in order to make known to you, and that we might write down the names of the men who were at their head.
11 Thus they responded with a word to us, saying,
‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, awhich a great king of Israel built and completed.
12 But abecause our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, bHe gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and took the people away into exile in Babylon.
13 However, ain the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus bissued a decree to rebuild this house of God.
14 Also athe gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought them to the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took out from the temple of Babylon, and they were given to one bwhose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor.
15 He said to him, “Take these articles, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place.”
16 Then that Sheshbazzar came and alaid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it is being rebuilt, and it is bnot yet finished.’
17 So now if it seems good to the king, alet a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, if it be that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild that house of God in Jerusalem; and let the king send to us his will concerning this matter.”
The Scroll with Cyrus’ Decree Is Found
Then King Darius issued a decree, and a asearch was made in the archives, where the treasures were deposited in Babylon. 2 And in Ecbatana in the fortress, which is ain the province of Media, a scroll was found and there was written in it as follows:
“Memorandum—
3 aIn the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree:
‘Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let that house, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits;
4 awith three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be given from the royal treasury.
5 And also let athe gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall deposit them in the house of God.’
6 “Now aTattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, keep away from there.
7 Leave that work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild that house of God in its designated place.
8 Moreover, aI issue a decree concerning what you shall do for those elders of Judah in the rebuilding of that house of God: the full cost is to be given to those people from the royal treasury out of the tribute of the provinces beyond the River, and that without negligence.
9 Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, according to what the priests in Jerusalem say, it is to be given to them daily without negligence,
10 that they may bring sweet-smelling sacrifices near to the God of heaven and apray for the life of the king and his sons.
11 And I issued a decree that aany man who violates this edict, a timber shall be pulled out from his house and he shall be impaled on it and bhis house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this.
12 May the God who ahas caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who stretches out his hand to change it, so as to destroy that house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree, let it be done with all diligence!”
The Dedication of the House of God
13 Then 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. 14 And 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. 15 And this house was brought to completion on the third day of the amonth Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles, acelebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They 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. 18 Then they appointed the priests to atheir sections and the Levites in btheir divisions for the service of God in Jerusalem, cas it is written in the book of Moses.
Passover Celebrated
19 aAnd the exiles celebrated the Passover on bthe fourteenth of the first month. 20 aFor 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. 21 Then 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. 22 And 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 strengthen them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.