Rebuilding of the Temple Resumed

²⁴ Now the construction of God’s house in Jerusalem had stopped and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.^(A)

5 But when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo^(B) 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^(C) began to rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. The prophets of God^(D) 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^(E) came to the Jews and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” ^{[a](F) 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^(G) 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.^{(H) 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.^{(I) 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.^{(J) 13} However, in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, he issued a decree to rebuild the house of God.^{(K) 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.^(L) He released them from the temple in Babylon to a man named Sheshbazzar, the governor by the appointment of King Cyrus.^{(M) 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.”^{(N) 16} Then this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of God’s house in Jerusalem.^(O) It has been under construction from that time until now,^(P) 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.^(Q) Let the king’s decision regarding this matter be sent to us.^(R)

The People’s Response

¹² Then Zerubbabel^(A) son of Shealtiel, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the entire remnant of the people^(B) obeyed the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. So the people feared the Lord.^(C)

¹³ Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, delivered the Lord’s message to the people: “I am with you^(D)—this is the Lord’s declaration.”

¹⁴ The Lord roused the spirit^(E) of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They began work on the house of the Lord of Armies, their God, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

Encouragement and Promise

2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month,^(F) the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: ² “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people: ³ ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem to you like nothing by comparison?^{(G) 4} Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel—this is the Lord’s declaration.^(H) Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land—this is the Lord’s declaration. Work! For I am with you^(I)—the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ⁵ This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt,^(J) and my Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid.’”

⁶ For the Lord of Armies says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth,^(K) the sea and the dry land.^{(L) 7} I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,”^(M) says the Lord of Armies. ⁸ “The silver and gold belong to me”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ⁹ “The final glory of this house^[a] will be greater than the first,”^(N) says the Lord of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place”^(O)—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

¹⁹ So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,^(A) with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building, being put together,^(B) grows into a holy temple in the Lord.^(C)