Restoration of the Temple Resumed

5 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo^[a] prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.^{(A) 2} Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set out to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God, helping them.^(B)

³ At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?”^{(C) 4} They^[b] also asked them this, “What are the names of the men who are building this building?”^{(D) 5} But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report reached Darius and then answer was returned by letter in reply to it.^(E)

⁶ The copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates the envoys who were in the province Beyond the River sent to King Darius;^{(F) 7} they sent him a report in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace! ⁸ May it be known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built of hewn stone, and timber is laid in the walls; this work is being done diligently and prospers in their hands. ⁹ Then we spoke to those elders and asked them, ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’^{(G) 10} We also asked them their names, for your information, so that we might write down the names of the men at their head. ¹¹ 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, which a great king of Israel built and finished.^{(H) 12} But because our ancestors had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia.^{(I) 13} However, King Cyrus of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.^{(J) 14} Moreover, the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem and had brought into the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor.^{(K) 15} He said to him, “Take these vessels; go and put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” ¹⁶ Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, and it is not yet finished.’^{(L) 17} And now, if it seems good to the king, have a search made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. Let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”^(M)

Duties toward Believers

5 Do not speak harshly to an older man,^[a] but speak to him as to a father, to younger men as brothers,^{(A) 2} to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters—with absolute purity.

³ Honor widows who are really widows. ⁴ If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some repayment to their parents, for this is pleasing in God’s sight.^{(B) 5} The real widow, left alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,^{(C) 6} but the widow^[b] who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.^{(D) 7} Give these commands as well, so that they may be above reproach.^{(E) 8} And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.^(F)

⁹ Let a widow be put on the list if she is not less than sixty years old and has been married only once;^{[c] 10} she must be well attested for her good works, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.^{(G) 11} But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when their sensual desires alienate them from Christ, they want to marry, ¹² and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge. ¹³ Besides that, they learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house, and they are not merely idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say.^{(H) 14} So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion to revile us.^{(I) 15} For some have already turned away to follow Satan. ¹⁶ If any believing woman^[d] has relatives who are widows, let her assist them; let the church not be burdened, so that it can assist those who are real widows.

¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor,^[e] especially those who labor in preaching and teaching,^{(J) 18} for the scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” and “The laborer deserves to be paid.”^{(K) 19} Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest also may stand in fear.^{(L) 21} In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality.^{(M) 22} Do not ordain^[f] anyone hastily, and do not participate in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.^(N)

²³ No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁴ The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there. ²⁵ So also good works are conspicuous, and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.

The Decree of Darius

6 Then King Darius made a decree, and they searched the archives where the documents were stored in Babylon.^{(A) 2} But it was in Ecbatana, the capital in the province of Media, that a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. ³ In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices are offered and burnt offerings are brought;^[a] its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits,^{(B) 4} with three courses of hewn stones and one course of timber; let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.^{(C) 5} Moreover, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God that Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be restored and brought back to the temple in Jerusalem, each to its place; you shall put them in the house of God.”^(D)

⁶ “Now you, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and you, their associates, the envoys in the province Beyond the River, keep away;^{(E) 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, 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 people, in full and without delay, from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province Beyond the River. ⁹ Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests in Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, ¹⁰ so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his children.^{(F) 11} Furthermore, I decree that, if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of the house of the perpetrator, who then shall be impaled on it. The house shall be made a dunghill.^{(G) 12} May the God who has established his name there overthrow any king or people who shall put forth a hand to alter this or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”^(H)

Completion and Dedication of the Temple

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

¹⁶ The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.^{(K) 17} They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.^{(L) 18} Then they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.^(M)

The Passover Celebrated

¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles kept the Passover.^{(N) 20} For both the priests and the Levites had purified themselves; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.^{(O) 21} It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and also by all who had joined them and separated themselves from the pollutions of the nations of the land to seek the Lord, the God of Israel.^{(P) 22} With joy they celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.^(Q)

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

Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sin

²³ Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.^{(F) 25} Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the holy place year after year with blood that is not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.^{(G) 27} And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment,^{(H) 28} so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.^(I)