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Ezra 6
New American Standard Bible

Darius Finds Cyrus’ Decree

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

6 “Now as for you, (F)Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and [i]your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, [j]stay away from there. 7 Leave that work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild that house of God on its site. 8 Furthermore, (G)I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of that house of God: the full cost is to be paid to those people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and that without interruption. 9 And whatever is needed, bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem order, it is to be given to them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and (H)pray for the lives of the king and his sons. 11 And I issued a decree that (I)any person who violates this decree, a timber shall be pulled out of his house and he shall be impaled on it; and (J)his house shall be turned into 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 [k]attempts to [l]change it, so as to destroy that house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; it is to be carried out with all diligence!”

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

13 Then (L)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had [m]ordered. 14 And (M)the elders of the Jews [n]were successful in building through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And [o]they finished building following the command of the God of Israel and the decree (N)of Cyrus, (O)Darius, and (P)Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 Now 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.

16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the [r]exiles, (R)celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered for the dedication of this temple of God a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel (S)twelve male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 Then they appointed the priests to (T)their divisions and the Levites in (U)their sections for the service of God in Jerusalem, (V)as it is written in the Book of Moses.

The Passover Held

19 (W)The exiles held the Passover on (X)the fourteenth of the first month. 20 (Y)For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then (Z)they slaughtered the Passover lambs for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves. 21 And the sons of Israel who returned from exile and (AA)all those who had separated themselves from (AB)the impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate the Passover. 22 And (AC)they held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them happy, and (AD)had turned the heart of (AE)the king of Assyria toward them to [s]encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 6:1 Lit house of the books
  2. Ezra 6:2 Aram Achmetha
  3. Ezra 6:3 Lit house
  4. Ezra 6:3 Or perhaps offerings by fire be offered
  5. Ezra 6:3 About 90 ft. or 27 m
  6. Ezra 6:4 As in LXX; Aram a layer of new timber
  7. Ezra 6:4 Lit king’s house
  8. Ezra 6:5 Lit go
  9. Ezra 6:6 Aram their
  10. Ezra 6:6 Lit be distant
  11. Ezra 6:12 Lit sends his hand
  12. Ezra 6:12 Or violate
  13. Ezra 6:13 Lit sent
  14. Ezra 6:14 Lit were building and succeeding
  15. Ezra 6:14 Lit built and finished
  16. Ezra 6:15 Lit house
  17. Ezra 6:15 Lit until
  18. Ezra 6:16 Lit sons of the exile
  19. Ezra 6:22 Lit strengthen their hands
Close NLT

Ezra 6
New Living Translation

Darius Approves the Rebuilding

6 So King Darius issued orders that a search be made in the Babylonian archives, which were stored in the treasury. 2 But it was at the fortress at Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found. This is what it said:

“Memorandum:

3 “In the first year of King Cyrus’s reign, a decree was sent out concerning the Temple of God at Jerusalem.

“Let the Temple be rebuilt on the site where Jews used to offer their sacrifices, using the original foundations. Its height will be ninety feet, and its width will be ninety feet.[a] 4 Every three layers of specially prepared stones will be topped by a layer of timber. All expenses will be paid by the royal treasury. 5 Furthermore, the gold and silver cups, which were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar from the Temple of God in Jerusalem, must be returned to Jerusalem and put back where they belong. Let them be taken back to the Temple of God.”

6 So King Darius sent this message:

“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River,[b] and Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues and other officials west of the Euphrates River—stay away from there! 7 Do not disturb the construction of the Temple of God. Let it be rebuilt on its original site, and do not hinder the governor of Judah and the elders of the Jews in their work.

8 “Moreover, I hereby decree that you are to help these elders of the Jews as they rebuild this Temple of God. You must pay the full construction costs, without delay, from my taxes collected in the province west of the Euphrates River so that the work will not be interrupted.

9 “Give the priests in Jerusalem whatever is needed in the way of young bulls, rams, and male lambs for the burnt offerings presented to the God of heaven. And without fail, provide them with as much wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil as they need each day. 10 Then they will be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the welfare of the king and his sons.

11 “Those who violate this decree in any way will have a beam pulled from their house. Then they will be lifted up and impaled on it, and their house will be reduced to a pile of rubble.[c] 12 May the God who has chosen the city of Jerusalem as the place to honor his name destroy any king or nation that violates this command and destroys this Temple.

“I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be obeyed with all diligence.”

The Temple’s Dedication

13 Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues complied at once with the command of King Darius. 14 So the Jewish elders continued their work, and they were greatly encouraged by the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. The Temple was finally finished, as had been commanded by the God of Israel and decreed by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the kings of Persia. 15 The Temple was completed on March 12,[d] during the sixth year of King Darius’s reign.

16 The Temple of God was then dedicated with great joy by the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the people who had returned from exile. 17 During the dedication ceremony for the Temple of God, 100 young bulls, 200 rams, and 400 male lambs were sacrificed. And 12 male goats were presented as a sin offering for the twelve tribes of Israel. 18 Then the priests and Levites were divided into their various divisions to serve at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, as prescribed in the Book of Moses.

Celebration of Passover

19 On April 21[e] the returned exiles celebrated Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 The Passover meal was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and by the others in the land who had turned from their corrupt practices to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 Then they celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. There was great joy throughout the land because the Lord had caused the king of Assyria[f] to be favorable to them, so that he helped them to rebuild the Temple of God, the God of Israel.

Footnotes

  1. 6:3 Aramaic Its height will be 60 cubits [27.6 meters], and its width will be 60 cubits. It is commonly held that this verse should be emended to read: “Its height will be 30 cubits [45 feet or 13.8 meters], its length will be 60 cubits [90 feet or 27.6 meters], and its width will be 20 cubits [30 feet or 9.2 meters]”; compare 1 Kgs 6:2. The emendation regarding the width is supported by the Syriac version.
  2. 6:6 Aramaic the province beyond the river; also in 6:6b, 8, 13.
  3. 6:11 Aramaic a dunghill.
  4. 6:15 Aramaic on the third day of the month Adar, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in Ezra can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Persian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This day was March 12, 515 B.c.
  5. 6:19 Hebrew On the fourteenth day of the first month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was April 21, 515 B.c.; also see note on 6:15.
  6. 6:22 King Darius of Persia is here identified as the king of Assyria because Persia had conquered the Babylonian Empire, which included the earlier Assyrian Empire.
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