以斯拉记 6
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
大利乌王发现先王谕旨
6 于是，大利乌王下令考查在巴比伦库房的档案， 2 在玛代省的亚马他宫中，发现了一卷书卷。其中写着这样的一段记录： 3 “古列王元年，古列王颁发有关在耶路撒冷 神的殿的命令，要把这殿重建起来，作献祭的地方；要奠立殿的根基。殿高二十七公尺，宽二十七公尺。 4 三层光滑石块，一层新木头，所有费用由王库支付。 5 至于从前尼布甲尼撒从耶路撒冷的殿里掠夺，带到巴比伦的神殿中的金银器皿，都要归还，送到耶路撒冷的殿，各按原来的地方放在 神的殿中。”
王下令继续重建圣殿
6 于是大利乌王下令说：“现在，河西那边的总督达乃和示他．波斯乃，以及你们的同僚，就是在河西那边的亚法萨迦人，你们要远离那里； 7 不要干涉这神殿的工程，让犹大人的总督和犹大人的长老在原来的地方重建 神的这殿。 8 我又下令你要协助这些犹大人的长老重建 神的殿，你要作这事：从河西那边交给王库的税收中，拨出充足的经费给他们，免得工程停顿。 9 他们需用的甚么东西，包括作燔祭献给天上 神的公牛犊、公绵羊和绵羊羔；还有麦子、盐、酒和油，都要照着在耶路撒冷的祭司们所说，天天供给他们，不可疏忽， 10 好让他们可以献馨香的祭给天上的 神，为王和王的子孙祈求长寿。 11 我又下令：无论甚么人更改这命令，就要从他的房屋中拆出一根梁木，把他挂起，钉在木上；又使他的房屋成为粪堆。 12 愿那使自己的名居住在那里的 神，毁灭所有伸手更改这命令，或要毁坏这在耶路撒冷 神的殿的君王和人民。我大利乌下令，必须彻底遵行。”
重建完工
13 于是河西那边的总督达乃、示他．波斯乃和他们的同僚，彻底遵照大利乌王的指示。 14 犹大人的长老因着哈该先知和易多的孙子撒迦利亚的信息，迅速重建。他们遵照以色列 神的命令，波斯王古列、大利乌和亚达薛西的命令，完成重建圣殿的工作。 15 这殿在大利乌王在位的第六年亚达月初三日，完成了。
举行献殿礼
16 以色列祭司和利未人，以及其余被掳归回的人都欢欢喜喜举行奉献这神殿的典礼。 17 在奉献这神殿的典礼中，他们献上公牛一百头、公绵羊二百只、绵羊羔四百只；又照着以色列支派的数目献上公山羊十二只，作全以色列的赎罪祭。 18 他们又照着摩西书上所写，委派祭司按着编制，利未人按着班次，在耶路撒冷 神的殿中事奉。
守逾越节
19 正月十四日，被掳归回的人守逾越节。 20 祭司和利未人一起行洁净仪式，他们就全都洁净了；于是利未人为所有被掳归回的人和他们作祭司的众亲族，以及他们自己，宰杀了逾越节的羊羔。 21 被掳归回的以色列人和所有脱离当地民族的污秽的人，一同吃这羊羔，寻求耶和华以色列的 神。 22 他们欢欢喜喜地守除酵节七天，因为耶和华使他们欢喜，又使亚述王的心转向他们，坚固他们的手作以色列 神殿的工程。
以斯拉记 6
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
发现塞鲁士王的谕旨
6 于是，大流士王下令查阅保存在巴比伦库房里的典籍。 2 在玛代省亚马他城的宫内找到一卷书，书中记载如下：
3 “塞鲁士王元年，塞鲁士王就耶路撒冷的上帝之殿降下谕旨，要重建这殿作献祭之处，要奠立殿的地基。殿要高二十七米、宽二十七米， 4 每三层巨石加铺一层木料，经费由国库支付。 5 尼布甲尼撒从耶路撒冷上帝的殿里掳到巴比伦的金银器皿，都要归还到耶路撒冷上帝的殿里，放回原处。”
6 于是，大流士王降旨：
“河西总督达乃、示他·波斯乃，以及你们的同僚——河西的官员，要远离那殿！ 7 不要干涉上帝殿的建造，要让犹太人的省长和长老在原址上重建这座上帝的殿。 8 另外，我降旨命你们帮助犹太人的长老建造上帝的殿，要立刻从河西的王室税收中拨出款项作建殿之用，以免耽误工程。 9 他们向天上的上帝献燔祭时所需的公牛犊、公绵羊、绵羊羔、小麦、盐、酒和油，都要照耶路撒冷祭司的话天天供给他们，不得有误， 10 好让他们向天上的上帝献上蒙悦纳的祭物，并为王和众王子求寿。 11 我再降旨，若有人更改这谕旨，必从他的房屋抽掉一根大梁，把他钉在梁上挂起来，他的房屋也要沦为粪堆。 12 无论君王还是百姓，若有人擅自更改这命令或毁坏耶路撒冷的这殿，愿拣选这殿作其居所的上帝毁灭他！我大流士降此谕旨，务要速速遵行。”
建殿工程竣工
13 于是，河西总督达乃、示他·波斯乃及其同僚都认真执行大流士王的谕旨。 14 在哈该先知和易多的子孙撒迦利亚的劝勉下，犹太人的长老建造这殿，进展顺利。他们遵照上帝的命令和波斯王塞鲁士、大流士和亚达薛西的谕旨，完成了建殿工程。 15 大流士王第六年亚达月[a]三日，建殿工程竣工。
举行献殿礼
16 以色列人、祭司、利未人，以及其余流亡归来的人都满心欢喜地为上帝的殿举行奉献礼。 17 他们为此献上一百头公牛犊，二百只公绵羊和四百只绵羊羔，又照以色列十二支派的数目献上十二只公山羊，作全体以色列人的赎罪祭。 18 他们依照摩西律法书的规定，派祭司和利未人按班次在耶路撒冷事奉上帝。
守逾越节
19 一月十四日，流亡归来的人守逾越节。 20 祭司和利未人一起自洁，成为洁净的人，并为所有流亡归来的人、其他祭司同胞以及他们自己宰杀逾越节的羔羊。 21 从流亡之地归回的以色列人，连同所有弃绝当地民族的污秽行为、寻求以色列的上帝耶和华的人，一起吃这羔羊。 22 他们欢欢喜喜地守除酵节七天，因为耶和华使亚述王对他们心存善意，帮助他们重建以色列上帝的殿。
Footnotes
- 6:15 “亚达月”即希伯来历的十二月，阳历是二月中旬到三月中旬。
Ezra 6
EasyEnglish Bible
King Darius replies
6 King Darius told his officers to look in the books in the royal library. That was in Babylon, in the place where they stored important things. 2 But it was in the region of Media that they found a scroll about the temple in Jerusalem. It was stored in a strong building in Ecbatana. This is what the scroll said:
‘This is an important note.
3 King Cyrus gave a command about God's temple in Jerusalem, in the first year that he ruled in Babylon. He said:
“The Jews must build their temple as a place where they can offer sacrifices to their God. They must build it on its foundations. They must make it 30 metres wide and 30 metres high. 4 They must build the walls with three rows of big stones, and then a row of wooden beams. They should take money from the king's palace to pay for the work. 5 We will give back to them the silver and gold things that belong in their God's temple. King Nebuchadnezzar took them from the temple in Jerusalem and he brought them here to Babylon. Now they must return to the place where they belong, in God's house in Jerusalem.”
6 So listen to me, Tattenai, my ruler of the region on the west side of the Euphrates river. You, Shethar-Bozenai and your other officers in that region must all stay away from the temple! 7 You must not do anything to stop the work on God's temple. The Jewish ruler and their leaders must continue to build this house of God. They must build it in its proper place.
8 So I will now tell you what you must do for the Jewish leaders. You must help them to build this temple again. Use the king's money to pay for everything that they need to continue the work. Use the taxes that we receive from people in the region west of the Euphrates river. The work on the building must not stop. 9 Also give to the priests the things that they need each day for their sacrifices to the God of heaven. Give them young bulls, male sheep and lambs to use as burnt offerings. Give them grain, salt, wine and olive oil. Whenever the priests in Jerusalem ask for something, you must be sure to give it to them. 10 Then their offerings will make the God of heaven happy. They will pray for God to bless the king and his family.
11 Nobody may change what I have commanded in this letter. If anyone does not obey this command, men must remove a beam from the roof of his house. They must push the point of the beam through his body and lift him up on it. Then they must destroy his house so that it becomes a heap of stones. That is what he deserves.
12 No king or nation should try to change my command. They must never destroy God's temple in Jerusalem. That is the place that he has chosen for people to worship him. I pray that he will remove anyone who tries to attack that place.
I, Darius, have made this command. Everyone must obey it completely.’
They finish the temple
13 Tattenai, ruler of the region west of the Euphrates river, Shethar-Bozenai and their friends carefully obeyed King Darius's command. 14 So the leaders of the Jews continued to build the temple. The work went very well. They listened to the messages from God that the prophet Haggai and Iddo's grandson, Zechariah, were teaching them. They finished building the temple. Israel's God had commanded them to do that. Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, the kings of Persia, had also commanded them to do it. 15 They finished building the temple on the third day of Adar month. King Darius had then been king for six years.
16 Then the Israelite people offered the temple to God, so that he would bless it. The priests, the Levites and the other people who had returned from Babylon were all very happy. 17 They offered 100 bulls, 200 male sheep and 400 lambs. Then they sacrificed 12 male goats as a sin offering for all Israel. There was one goat for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. 18 They decided how each group of priests and Levites should work in God's temple in Jerusalem. Moses had written in his book how they should do this.
The Passover feast
19 On the 14th day of the first month, the people ate the Passover feast.[a] 20 The priests and Levites had all made themselves clean for their special work. The Levites killed the lambs for the Passover sacrifice. They did that on behalf of all the people, the priests and themselves. 21 So all the people who had returned from Babylon ate the feast. Other Israelites in Jerusalem had turned away from the bad things that other nations who lived there did. They had decided to worship the Lord, Israel's God. So they also ate the feast. 22 Then they ate the Feast of Flat Bread for seven days.[b] The Lord had caused them to be very happy, because the king of Assyria had helped them. The Lord had made the king think in a different way about the Jews in Jerusalem. He had decided to help them to build the God of Israel's temple.
Footnotes
- 6:19 The Passover feast was to help the Israelites. They needed to remember how God had saved them from being slaves in Egypt. God had sent an angel to kill all the oldest sons of the people in Egypt. But he told the Israelites to put the blood of a lamb round their doors. They had to stay inside their houses. Then the angel passed over their houses and he did not kill their sons. Then the Egyptians sent the Israelites out of Egypt. See Numbers 28:16-25; Exodus 12:14-20.
- 6:22 The Feast of Flat Bread began the day after the Passover Feast. Flat bread is bread that has no yeast in it.
Ezra 6
New English Translation
Darius Issues a Decree
6 So Darius the king issued orders, and they searched in the archives[a] of the treasury which were deposited there in Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel[b] of Ecbatana which is in the province of Media, and it was inscribed as follows:
“Memorandum: 3 In the first year of his reign,[c] King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place.[d] Its height is to be 90 feet and its width 90 feet,[e] 4 with three layers of large stones[f] and one[g] layer of timber. The expense is to be subsidized[h] by the royal treasury.[i] 5 Furthermore, let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar brought from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, be returned and brought to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem. Let them be deposited in the temple of God.’
6 “Now Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues, the officials of Trans-Euphrates—all of you stay far away from there. 7 Leave the work on this temple of God alone.[j] Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this temple of God in its proper place.
8 “I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates, the complete costs are to be given to these men so that there may be no interruption of the work.[k] 9 Whatever is needed—whether oxen or rams or lambs for burnt offerings for the God of heaven or wheat or salt or wine or oil, as required by[l] the priests who are in Jerusalem—must be given to them daily without any neglect, 10 so that they may be offering incense to the God of heaven and may be praying for the good fortune of the king and his family.[m]
11 “I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled[n] on it, and his house is to be reduced[o] to a rubbish heap[p] for this indiscretion.[q] 12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation[r] who reaches out[s] to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”
The Temple Is Finally Dedicated
13 Then Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues acted accordingly—with precision, just as Darius the king had given instructions.[t] 14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time[u] Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth[v] year of the reign of King Darius.
16 The people[w] of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles[x]—observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of this temple of God they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and 12 male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 They appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their divisions over the worship of God at Jerusalem, in accord with[y] the book of Moses. 19 [z] The exiles[aa] observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20 The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one,[ab] and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues[ac] the priests, and for themselves. 21 The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them[ad] in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel. 22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion[ae] of the king of Assyria[af] toward them so that he assisted them[ag] in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.
Footnotes
- Ezra 6:1 tn Aram “the house of the archives.”
- Ezra 6:2 tc The translation reads בִירְתָא (birtaʾ, citadel”) rather than the reading בְּבִירְתָא (beviretaʾ, “in the citadel”) found in the MT. The MT probably experienced dittography here.
- Ezra 6:3 tn Aram “In the first year of Cyrus the king.”
- Ezra 6:3 tn Aram “raised”; or perhaps “retained” (so NASB; cf. NLT), referring to the original foundations of Solomon’s temple.
- Ezra 6:3 tc The Syriac Peshitta reads “20 cubits” here, a measurement probably derived from dimensions given elsewhere for Solomon’s temple. According to 1 Kgs 6:2 the dimensions of the Solomonic temple were as follows: length, 60 cubits; width, 20 cubits; height, 30 cubits. Since one would expect the dimensions cited in Ezra 6:3 to correspond to those of Solomon’s temple, it is odd that no dimension for length is provided. The Syriac has apparently harmonized the width dimension provided here (“20 cubits”) to that given in 1 Kgs 6:2.tn Aram “Its height 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
- Ezra 6:4 tn Aram “stones of rolling.”
- Ezra 6:4 tc The translation follows the LXX reading חַד (khad, “one”) rather than the MT חֲדַת (khadat, “new”). If the MT reading “new” is understood to mean freshly cut timber that has not yet been seasoned it would seem to be an odd choice for construction material.
- Ezra 6:4 tn Aram “let be given.”
- Ezra 6:4 tn Aram “house.”
- Ezra 6:7 tc For the MT reading “the work on this temple of God” the LXX reads “the servant of the Lord Zurababel” [= Zerubbabel].
- Ezra 6:8 tn The words “of the work” are not in the Aramaic, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Ezra 6:9 tn Aram “according to the word of.”
- Ezra 6:10 tn Aram “for the life of the king and his sons.”
- Ezra 6:11 sn The practice referred to in v. 11 has been understood in various ways: hanging (cf. 1 Esd 6:32 and KJV); flogging (cf. NEB, NLT); impalement (BDB 1091 s.v. זְקַף; HALOT 1914 s.v. מחא hitpe; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The last seems the most likely.
- Ezra 6:11 tn Aram “made.”
- Ezra 6:11 tn Aram “a dunghill.”
- Ezra 6:11 tn Aram “for this.”
- Ezra 6:12 tn Aram “people.”
- Ezra 6:12 tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”
- Ezra 6:13 tn Aram “sent.”
- Ezra 6:14 tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.
- Ezra 6:15 sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 b.c.
- Ezra 6:16 tn Aram “sons of.”
- Ezra 6:16 tn Aram “sons of the exile.”
- Ezra 6:18 tn Aram “according to the writing of.”
- Ezra 6:19 sn At this point the language of the book reverts from Aramaic (4:8-6:18) back to Hebrew. Aramaic will again be used in Ezra 7:12-26.
- Ezra 6:19 tn Heb “the sons of the exile.” So also in v. 20.
- Ezra 6:20 tn Heb “as one.” The expression is best understood as referring to the unity shown by the religious leaders in preparing themselves for the observance of Passover. On the meaning of the Hebrew phrase see DCH 1:182 s.v. אֶחָד 3b. See also HALOT 30 s.v. אֶחָד 5.
- Ezra 6:20 tn Heb “brothers.”
- Ezra 6:21 tn Heb “who had separated from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to them.”
- Ezra 6:22 tn Heb “heart.”
- Ezra 6:22 sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.
- Ezra 6:22 tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.