Rebuilding Begins Anew

5 Now the prophets, ^(A)Haggai 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. ^2 (C)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and ^(D)Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were ^(E)with them, supporting them.

³ At the same time ^(F)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: ^(G)“Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” ⁴ They also asked them this:^[a] “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” ⁵ But ^(H)the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

Tattenai's Letter to King Darius

⁶ This is a copy of the letter that ^(I)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the ^(J)governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. ⁷ They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸ Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. ⁹ Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ^(K)‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ ¹⁰ We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.^{[b] 11} And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, ^(L)which a great king of Israel built and ^(M)finished. ^12 (N)But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he ^(O)gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. ^13 (P)However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. ^14 (Q)And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was ^(R)Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; ¹⁵ and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” ¹⁶ Then this ^(S)Sheshbazzar came and ^(T)laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is ^(U)not yet finished.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, if it seems good to the king, ^(V)let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

Instructions for the Church

5 ^(A)Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, ^(B)younger men as brothers, ² older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

³ Honor widows ^(C)who are truly widows. ⁴ But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn ^(D)to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for ^(E)this is pleasing in the sight of God. ⁵ She ^(F)who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and ^(G)continues in supplications and prayers night and day, ⁶ but ^(H)she who is self-indulgent is ^(I)dead even while she lives. ^7 (J)Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. ⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for ^(K)members of his household, he has ^(L)denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹ Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been ^(M)the wife of one husband,^{[a] 10} and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has ^(N)shown hospitality, ^(O)has washed the feet of the saints, has ^(P)cared for the afflicted, and has ^(Q)devoted herself to every good work. ¹¹ But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when ^(R)their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry ¹² and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. ¹³ Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also ^(S)gossips and ^(T)busybodies, saying what they should not. ¹⁴ So I would have ^(U)younger widows marry, bear children, ^(V)manage their households, and ^(W)give the adversary no occasion for slander. ^15 (X)For some have already strayed after Satan. ¹⁶ If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those ^(Y)who are truly widows.

¹⁷ Let the elders ^(Z)who rule well be considered worthy of ^(AA)double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, ^(AB)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, ^(AC)“The laborer deserves his wages.” ¹⁹ Do not admit a charge against an elder except ^(AD)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ As for those who persist in sin, ^(AE)rebuke them in the presence of all, ^(AF)so that the rest may stand in fear. ²¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels ^(AG)I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, ^(AH)doing nothing from partiality. ^22 (AI)Do not be hasty in the ^(AJ)laying on of hands, nor ^(AK)take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. ²³ (No longer drink only water, but ^(AL)use a little wine ^(AM)for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) ²⁴ The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. ²⁵ So also good works are conspicuous, and ^(AN)even those that are not cannot remain hidden.

The Decree of Darius

6 Then Darius the king made a decree, and ^(A)search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. ² And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is ^(B)in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. ³ In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits^[a] and its breadth sixty cubits, ^4 (C)with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. ⁵ And also ^(D)let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.”

⁶ “Now therefore, ^(E)Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, ^(F)and your^[b] associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. ⁷ Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. ⁸ Moreover, ^(G)I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. ⁹ And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, ¹⁰ that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven ^(H)and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹ Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and ^(I)his house shall be made a dunghill. ¹² May the God ^(J)who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

The Temple Finished and Dedicated

¹³ Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, ^(K)Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. ^14 (L)And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and ^(M)by decree of Cyrus and ^(N)Darius and ^(O)Artaxerxes king of Persia; ¹⁵ and this house was finished on the third day of the ^(P)month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶ And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the ^(Q)dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷ They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel ^(R)12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ And they set the priests ^(S)in their divisions and the Levites ^(T)in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, ^(U)as it is written in the Book of Moses.

Passover Celebrated

^19 (V)On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. ^20 (W)For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. ^(X)So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. ²¹ It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and ^(Y)also by every one who had joined them and separated himself ^(Z)from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. ²² And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread ^(AA)seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful ^(AB)and had turned the heart of ^(AC)the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

¹⁵ Therefore he is ^(A)the mediator of a new covenant, so that ^(B)those who are called may ^(C)receive the promised eternal inheritance, ^(D)since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.^{[a] 16} For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. ¹⁷ For ^(E)a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated ^(F)without blood. ¹⁹ For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took ^(G)the blood of calves and goats, ^(H)with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, ^(I)“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” ²¹ And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both ^(J)the tent and all the vessels used in worship. ²² Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and ^(K)without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

²³ Thus it was necessary for ^(L)the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ has entered, not into holy places ^(M)made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ^(N)on our behalf. ²⁵ Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as ^(O)the high priest enters ^(P)the holy places every year with blood not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, ^(Q)he has appeared ^(R)once for all ^(S)at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as ^(T)it is appointed for man to die once, and ^(U)after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once ^(V)to bear the sins of ^(W)many, will appear ^(X)a second time, ^(Y)not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly ^(Z)waiting for him.