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

Darius Finds Cyrus’s Decree

6 Then King Darius issued a decree, and ^(A)search was made in the ^[a]archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. ² In ^[b]Ecbatana in the fortress, which is ^(B)in the province of Media, a scroll was found and there was written in it as follows: “Memorandum— ^3 (C)In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the ^[c]temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be ^[d]retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; ^4 (D)with three layers of huge stones and ^[e]one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the ^[f]royal treasury. ⁵ Also let ^(E)the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and ^[g]brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’

⁶ “Now therefore, ^(F)Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the ^[h]River, Shethar-bozenai and ^[i]your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the ^[j]River, ^[k]keep away from there. ⁷ Leave this work on the 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 issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the River, and that without delay. ⁹ Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail, ¹⁰ that they may offer ^[l]acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and ^(H)pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹ And I issued a decree that ^(I)any man who violates this edict, a timber shall be drawn from his house and he shall be impaled on it and ^(J)his house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this. ¹² May the God who ^(K)has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who ^[m]attempts to change it, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree, let it be carried out with all diligence!”

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

¹³ Then ^(L)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent. ¹⁴ And ^(M)the elders of the Jews ^[n]were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And ^[o]they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree ^(N)of Cyrus, ^(O)Darius, and ^(P)Artaxerxes king of Persia. ¹⁵ This ^[p]temple was completed ^[q]on the third day of the ^(Q)month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

2 And it came about in the month Nisan, ^(A)in the twentieth year of King ^(B)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and ^(C)I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? ^(D)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ I said to the king, “^(E)Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad ^(F)when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” ^(G)So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and ^(H)I gave him a definite time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me ^(I)for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s ^(J)forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(K)the fortress which is by the ^[a]temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because ^(L)the good hand of my God was on me.

Builders of the Walls

3 Then ^(A)Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built ^(B)the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and ^(C)hung its doors. They consecrated ^[a]the wall to ^(D)the Tower of the Hundred and ^(E)the Tower of Hananel.