Ezra 5:1-13

English Standard Version

Rebuilding Begins Anew

5 Now the prophets, ^(A)Haggai and ^(B)Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. ²^(C)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and ^(D)Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were ^(E)with them, supporting them.

³At the same time ^(F)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: ^(G)“Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” ⁴They also asked them this:^[a] “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” ⁵But ^(H)the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

Tattenai's Letter to King Darius

⁶This is a copy of the letter that ^(I)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the ^(J)governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. ⁷They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. ⁹Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ^(K)‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ ¹⁰We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.^[b] ¹¹And 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, ^(L)which a great king of Israel built and ^(M)finished. ¹²^(N)But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he ^(O)gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. ¹³^(P)However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.