Ezra 5-7

New American Standard Bible

Temple Work Resumed

5 When the prophets, ^(A)Haggai the prophet and ^(B)Zechariah 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, ²then ^(C)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and ^(D)the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

³At that time ^(E)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them as follows: “^(F)Who issued you a decree to rebuild this ^[a]temple and to finish this structure?” ⁴^(G)Then we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were reconstructing this building. ⁵But ^(H)the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report could reach Darius, and then the decree concerning it could be sent back.

Enemies Write to Darius

⁶This is the copy of the letter that ^(I)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues ^(J)the officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. ⁷They sent the report to him in which it was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸May it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God which is being built with large stones, and ^[b]beams are being laid in the walls; and this work is being performed with great care and is succeeding in their hands. ⁹Then we asked those elders and said to them as follows: ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’ ¹⁰We also asked them their names so as to inform you, in order that we might write down the names of the men who were ^[c]in charge. ¹¹So they ^[d]answered us as follows, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, ^(K)which a great king of Israel built and finished. ¹²But ^(L)because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, ^(M)He handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon. ¹³However, ^(N)in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus ^(O)issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴Also ^(P)the 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, King Cyrus took them from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one ^(Q)whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. ¹⁵And he said to him, “Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and have the house of God rebuilt in its place.” ¹⁶Then that Sheshbazzar came and ^(R)laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is ^(S)not yet completed.’ ¹⁷And now, if it pleases the king, ^(T)let a search be conducted in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, as to whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem; and let the king send to us his decision concerning this matter.”

Darius Finds Cyrus’ Decree

6 Then King Darius issued a decree, and a ^(U)search was conducted in the ^[e]archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. ²And in ^[f]Ecbatana, in the fortress which is ^(V)in the province of Media, a scroll was found; and the following was written in it: “Memorandum— ³^(W)In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let the ^[g]temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt, and let ^[h]its foundations be repaired, its height being ^[i]sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, ⁴^(X)with three layers of large stones and ^[j]one layer of timber. And the cost is to be paid from the ^[k]royal treasury. ⁵Also ^(Y)the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned and ^[l]brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’

⁶“Now as for you, ^(Z)Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and ^[m]your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, ^[n]stay away from there. ⁷Leave 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 on its site. ⁸Furthermore, ^(AA)I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of that house of God: the full cost is to be paid to those people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and that without interruption. ⁹And whatever is needed, bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem order, it is to be given to them daily without fail, ¹⁰so that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and ^(AB)pray for the lives of the king and his sons. ¹¹And I issued a decree that ^(AC)any person who violates this decree, a timber shall be pulled out of his house and he shall be impaled on it; and ^(AD)his house shall be turned into a refuse heap on account of this. ¹²May the God who ^(AE)has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who ^[o]attempts to ^[p]change it, so as to destroy that house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; it is to be carried out with all diligence!”

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

¹³Then ^(AF)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had ^[q]ordered. ¹⁴And ^(AG)the elders of the Jews ^[r]were successful in building through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And ^[s]they finished building following the command of the God of Israel and the decree ^(AH)of Cyrus, ^(AI)Darius, and ^(AJ)Artaxerxes king of Persia. ¹⁵Now this ^[t]temple was completed ^[u]on the third day of the ^(AK)month 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 ^[v]exiles, ^(AL)celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷They offered for the dedication of this temple of God a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel ^(AM)twelve male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸Then they appointed the priests to ^(AN)their divisions and the Levites in ^(AO)their sections for the service of God in Jerusalem, ^(AP)as it is written in the Book of Moses.

The Passover Held

¹⁹^(AQ)The exiles held the Passover on ^(AR)the fourteenth of the first month. ²⁰^(AS)For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then ^(AT)they slaughtered the Passover lambs for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves. ²¹And the sons of Israel who returned from exile and ^(AU)all those who had separated themselves from ^(AV)the impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate the Passover. ²²And ^(AW)they held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them happy, and ^(AX)had turned the heart of ^(AY)the king of Assyria toward them to ^[w]encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem

7 ^(AZ)Now after these things, in the reign of ^(BA)Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra went up to Jerusalem; Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, ²son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ³son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, ⁴son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest. ⁶So this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ^(BB)scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all ^[x]he requested ^(BC)because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him. ⁷^(BD)Some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

⁸And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, ^(BE)because the good hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰For Ezra had ^[y]firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and ^(BF)to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

King’s Decree on Behalf of Ezra

¹¹Now this is the copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, ^[z]learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel: ¹²“^[aa]Artaxerxes, ^(BG)king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, ^[ab]perfect peace. And now ¹³^(BH)I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. ¹⁴Since you are sent ^[ac]on the part of the king and his ^(BI)seven advisers to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God which is in your hand, ¹⁵and to bring the silver and gold, which the king and his advisers have voluntarily given to the God of Israel, ^(BJ)whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶with ^(BK)all the silver and gold which you find in the entire province of Babylon, along ^(BL)with the ^[ad]voluntary offering of the people and of the priests, who ^(BM)offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; ¹⁷with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams, and lambs, ^(BN)with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and ^(BO)offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸And whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. ¹⁹Also the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰And the rest of the needs of the house of your God, for which it may be incumbent upon you to provide, ^(BP)provide for them from the royal treasury.

²¹“I myself, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, that whatever Ezra the priest, ^(BQ)the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently, ²²up to ^[ae]a hundred talents of silver, ^[af]a hundred kors of wheat, ^[ag]a hundred baths of wine, ^[ah]a hundred baths of anointing oil, and salt ^[ai]as needed. ²³Whatever is ^[aj]commanded by the God of heaven, it shall be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, ^(BR)so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. ²⁴We also inform you that ^(BS)it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute, or toll ^(BT)on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, ^(BU)appoint magistrates and judges so that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the Euphrates River, that is, all those who know the laws of your God; and you may ^(BV)teach anyone who is ignorant of them. ²⁶And ^(BW)whoever does not comply with the Law of your God and the law of the king, judgment is to be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment, or for ^[ak]confiscation of property or for imprisonment.”

The King’s Kindness

²⁷Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, ^(BX)who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to glorify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, ²⁸and ^(BY)has extended favor to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty officials. So I was strengthened according to ^(BZ)the hand of the Lord my God that was upon me, and I gathered ^[al]leading men from Israel to go up with me.