5 But when the prophets Haggai 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, ² Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak^(B) began to rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. The prophets of God^(C) were with them, helping them.

³ At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues^(D) came to the Jews and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” ^{[a](E) 4} They also asked them, “What are the names of the workers^[b] who are constructing this building?” ⁵ But God was watching^[c] over^(F) the Jewish elders. These men wouldn’t stop them until a report was sent to Darius, so that they could receive written instructions about this matter.

The Letter to Darius

⁶ This is the text of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues, the officials in the region, sent to King Darius. ⁷ They sent him a report, written as follows:

To King Darius:

All greetings.

⁸ Let it be known to the king that we went to the house of the great God in the province of Judah. It is being built with cut^[d] stones, and its beams are being set in the walls. This work is being done diligently and succeeding through the people’s efforts.^{(G) 9} So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” ¹⁰ We also asked them for their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

¹¹ This is the reply they gave us:

We are the servants of the God of the heavens and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.^{(H) 12} But since our ancestors angered the God of the heavens, he handed them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.^{(I) 13} However, in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, he issued a decree to rebuild the house of God.^{(J) 14} He also took from the temple in Babylon the gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and carried them to the temple in Babylon.^(K) He released them from the temple in Babylon to a man named Sheshbazzar, the governor by the appointment of King Cyrus.^{(L) 15} Cyrus told him, “Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.”^{(M) 16} Then this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of God’s house in Jerusalem.^(N) It has been under construction from that time until now,^(O) but it has not been completed.

¹⁷ So if it pleases the king, let a search of the royal archives^[e] in Babylon be conducted to see if it is true that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem.^(P) Let the king’s decision regarding this matter be sent to us.^(Q)

Darius’s Search

6 King Darius gave the order, and they searched^(R) in the library of Babylon in the archives.^{[f](S) 2} But it was in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Media^(T) that a scroll was found with this record written on it:

³ In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree^(U) concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:

Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained.^[g] Its height is to be ninety feet^[h] and its width ninety feet,^{(V) 4} with three layers of cut^[i] stones and one of timber.^(W) The cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.^{[j](X) 5} The gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon must also be returned. They are to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem where they belong^[k] and put into the house of God.^(Y)

Darius’s Decree

⁶ Therefore, you must stay away from that place, Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your^[l] colleagues, the officials in the region.^{(Z) 7} Leave the construction of the house of God alone. Let the governor^(AA) and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

⁸ I hereby issue a decree concerning what you are to do, so that the elders of the Jews can rebuild the house of God:

The cost is to be paid in full to these men out of the royal revenues^(AB) from the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that the work will not stop. ⁹ Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of the heavens, or wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given to them every day without fail,^{(AC) 10} so that they can offer sacrifices of pleasing aroma to the God of the heavens and pray for the life of the king and his sons.^(AD)

¹¹ I also issue a decree concerning any man who interferes with this directive:

Let a beam be torn from his house and raised up; he will be impaled on it, and his house will be made into a garbage dump because of this offense.^{(AE) 12} May the God who caused his name to dwell there^(AF) overthrow any king or people who dares^[m] to harm or interfere with this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.

¹³ Then Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues^(AG) diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed. ¹⁴ So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo.^(AH) They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,^(AI) Darius, and King Artaxerxes^(AJ) of Persia. ¹⁵ This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar^(AK) in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Temple Dedication and the Passover

¹⁶ Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. ¹⁷ For the dedication of God’s house they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, as well as twelve male goats^(AL) as a sin offering for all Israel—one for each Israelite tribe. ¹⁸ They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the book of Moses.^(AM)

¹⁹ The exiles^(AN) observed the Passover^(AO) on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²⁰ All of the priests and Levites were ceremonially clean, because they had purified themselves. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves, their priestly brothers, and all the exiles.^{(AP) 21} The Israelites who had returned from exile^(AQ) ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land^[n](AR) in order to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. ²² They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days^(AS) with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them^[o] in the work on the house of the God of Israel.^(AT)

James Martyred and Peter Jailed

12 About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church, ² and he executed James,^(A) John’s brother, with the sword. ³ When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.^{(B) 4} After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying fervently to God for him.

Peter Rescued

⁶ When Herod was about to bring him out for trial, that very night Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. ⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord^(C) appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.^{(D) 8} “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision.^{(E) 10} After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him.^(F)

¹¹ When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”^{(G) 12} As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark,^(H) where many had assembled and were praying. ¹³ He knocked at the door of the outer gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate.

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true, and they said, “It’s his angel.”^{(I) 16} Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.

¹⁷ Motioning to them with his hand^(J) to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Tell these things to James^(K) and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.^(L)

Herod’s Death

²⁰ Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.^{(M) 21} On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them. ²² The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ At once an angel of the Lord^(N) struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.^(O)

²⁴ But the word of God spread and multiplied.^{(P) 25} After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to^[a] Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.^(Q)