¹⁷ Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, ^(A)let a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, whether it is so that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send us his pleasure concerning this matter.

³ In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a ^(C)decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, ^4 (D)with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the ^(E)expenses be paid from the king’s treasury. ⁵ Also let ^(F)the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple which is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and taken back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; and deposit them in the house of God”—