Ezra 6

Cyrus’s Decree Is Found

1Then King Darius issued a command, and a search was made in the house of the archives where the treasures were stored in Babylon. 2A scroll was found at Ecbatana, in the fortress that is in the province of Media, and this was written in it as a memorandum: 3“In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:

Let the house be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered, and let its foundations be established. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, 4with three courses of large stones and one course of new timber. Let the expense be paid from the royal house. 5Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be returned. Let each go back to its place in the temple in Jerusalem, and place them in the house of God.”

Darius Orders the Work to Continue

6“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-Bozenai, and your associates, the officials in the province Beyond the River, keep away from there. 7Leave the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Judeans and the elders of the Judeans rebuild this house of God on its site. 8Moreover, I issue a decree concerning what you shall do for these elders of the Judeans for the rebuilding of this house of God: the full expense shall be paid to these men from the royal revenue, from the tribute of the province Beyond the River, without delay, so that they are not hindered. 9Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given to them day by day without fail, 10so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11I also issue a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled from his house, and he shall be lifted up and impaled upon it, and his house shall be made a refuse heap because of this. 12May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who stretches out a hand to alter this decree or destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.”

The Temple Is Completed

13Then Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-Bozenai, and their associates carried this out diligently because King Darius had sent the command. 14The elders of the Judeans built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They built and completed it according to the command of the God of Israel and according to the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

The Temple Is Dedicated

16The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17They offered for the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18They appointed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

Passover after the Return

19The returned exiles kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. They slaughtered the Passover sacrifice for all the returned exiles, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves. 21The children of Israel who had returned from exile ate it, along with everyone who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. 22They kept the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, strengthening their hands for the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.