Altar and Sacrifices Restored

3 Now when the seventh month came, and ^(A)the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one person to Jerusalem. ² Then ^(B)Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and ^(C)Zerubbabel the son ^(D)of Shealtiel and his brothers, rose up and ^(E)built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, ^(F)as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. ³ So they set up the altar on its foundation, because ^[a](G)they were terrified of the peoples of the lands; and they ^(H)offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. ⁴ They also celebrated the ^(I)Feast of ^[b]Booths, ^(J)as it is written, and offered ^[c]the prescribed number of burnt offerings daily, ^(K)according to the ordinance, ^[d]as each day required; ⁵ and afterward there was a ^(L)continual burnt offering, also ^(M)for the new moons and ^(N)for all the appointed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered a ^[e]voluntary offering to the Lord. ⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. ⁷ Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and ^(O)food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians ^(P)to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at ^(Q)Joppa, according to the permission they had ^[f]from ^(R)Cyrus king of Persia.

Temple Restoration Begun

⁸ Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, ^(S)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, 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 ^(T)appointed the Levites who were twenty years old and upward to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. ⁹ Then ^(U)Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of ^[g]Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God.

¹⁰ Now when the builders had ^(V)laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, ^[h]the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord ^(W)according to the ^[i]directions of King David of Israel. ¹¹ And ^(X)they sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “^(Y)For He is good, for His favor is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout of joy when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, ^(Z)the old men who had seen the first ^[j]temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, ¹³ so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, because the people were shouting with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Enemies Hinder the Work

4 Now when ^(AA)the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that ^(AB)the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for like you, we seek your God; ^(AC)and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of ^(AD)Esarhaddon 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, “^(AE)You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build for the Lord God of Israel, ^(AF)just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

⁴ Then ^(AG)the people of the land ^[k]discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, ⁵ and bribed advisers against them to frustrate their advice all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶ Now in the reign of ^[l](AH)Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷ And in the days of ^[m]Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the ^[n]text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated ^(AI)from Aramaic.

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

^8 [o]Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows— ^9 [p]Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and ^(AJ)the rest of their colleagues, the judges and ^(AK)the 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 ^[q]Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region beyond the Euphrates River. ^(AL)And now ¹¹ this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him:

“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men of the region beyond the Euphrates 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 ^(AM)the rebellious and evil city and ^(AN)are finishing 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 finished, ^(AO)they will not pay tribute, custom tax, or toll, and it will ^[r]be detrimental to the revenue of the kings. ¹⁴ Now because we ^[s]are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s shame, for this reason we have sent word and informed the king, ¹⁵ so that a search may be conducted in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and detrimental to kings and provinces, and that they have revolted within it in past days; for this reason that city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We are informing the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished, then as a result of this you will have no possession in the province beyond the Euphrates River.”

The King Replies and Work Stops

¹⁷ Then the king sent a response to Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River: “Peace. And now, ¹⁸ the document which you sent to us has been ^[t](AP)translated and read before me. ¹⁹ And a decree has been ^[u]issued by me, and a search has been conducted and it has been discovered that that city has risen up against the kings in past days, and that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it, ^20 (AQ)that mighty kings have ^[v]ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces ^(AR)beyond the Euphrates River, and that ^(AS)tribute, custom tax, and toll were paid to them. ²¹ Now issue a decree to make those men stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. ²² And beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter; why should there be great damage, to the detriment of the kings?”

²³ Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ decree was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in a hurry to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by military force.

²⁴ Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem was discontinued, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Temple Work Resumed

5 When the prophets, ^(AT)Haggai the prophet and ^(AU)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, ² then ^(AV)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 ^(AW)the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

³ At that time ^(AX)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: “^(AY)Who issued you a decree to rebuild this ^[w]temple and to finish this structure?” ^4 (AZ)Then we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were reconstructing this building. ⁵ But ^(BA)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

⁶ This is the copy of the letter that ^(BB)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues ^(BC)the officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. ⁷ They sent the report to him in which it was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸ May 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 ^[x]beams are being laid in the walls; and this work is being performed with great care and is succeeding in their hands. ⁹ Then we asked those elders and said to them as follows: ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’ ¹⁰ We also asked them their names so as to inform you, in order that we might write down the names of the men who were ^[y]in charge. ¹¹ So they ^[z]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, ^(BD)which a great king of Israel built and finished. ¹² But ^(BE)because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, ^(BF)He handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon. ¹³ However, ^(BG)in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus ^(BH)issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴ Also ^(BI)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 ^(BJ)whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. ¹⁵ And 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.” ¹⁶ Then that Sheshbazzar came and ^(BK)laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is ^(BL)not yet completed.’ ¹⁷ And now, if it pleases the king, ^(BM)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.”

The Empty Tomb

20 ^(A)Now on the first day of the week ^(B)Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and *saw ^(C)the stone already removed from the tomb. ² So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other ^(D)disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, “^(E)They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have put Him.” ^3 (F)So Peter and the other disciple left, and they were going to the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; ⁵ and he ^(G)stooped to look in, and *saw the ^(H)linen wrappings lying there; however he did not go in. ⁶ So Simon Peter also *came, following him, and he entered the tomb; and he *looked at the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and ^(I)the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the ^(J)linen wrappings but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸ So the other disciple who ^(K)had first come to the tomb also entered then, and he saw and believed. ⁹ For ^(L)they did not yet understand the Scripture, ^(M)that He must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ So the disciples went away again ^(N)to their own homes.

^11 (O)But Mary was standing outside the tomb, weeping; so as she wept, she ^(P)stooped to look into the tomb; ¹² and she *saw ^(Q)two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³ And they *said to her, “^(R)Woman, why are you weeping?” She *said to them, “Because ^(S)they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they put Him.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and *^(T)saw Jesus standing there, and yet she ^(U)did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus *said to her, “^(V)Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking that He was the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him ^(W)in ^[a]Hebrew, “^(X)Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to ^(Y)My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ^(Z)ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” ^18 (AA)Mary Magdalene *came and ^(AB)announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

Jesus among His Disciples

¹⁹ Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were ^[b]shut where the disciples were together due to ^(AC)fear of the ^[c]Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and *said to them, “^(AD)Peace be to you.” ²⁰ And when He had said this, ^(AE)He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then ^(AF)rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ So Jesus said to them again, “^(AG)Peace be to you; ^(AH)just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ^23 (AI)If you forgive the sins of any, their sins ^[d]have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

²⁴ But ^(AJ)Thomas, one of ^(AK)the twelve, who was called ^[e](AL)Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in ^(AM)His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, ^(AN)I will not believe.”

^26 [f]Eight days later His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been ^[g]shut, and stood in their midst and said, “^(AO)Peace be to you.” ²⁷ Then He *said to Thomas, “^(AP)Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.” ²⁸ Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? ^(AQ)Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

Why This Gospel Was Written

^30 (AR)So then, many other ^[h](AS)signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these have been written ^(AT)so that you may believe that Jesus is the ^[i]Christ, ^(AU)the Son of God; and that by ^(AV)believing you may have life in His name.