Ezra 5

New King James Version

Restoration of the Temple Resumed^(A)

5 Then the prophet ^(B)Haggai and ^(C)Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. ²So ^(D)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of ^[a]Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and ^(E)the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

³At the same time ^(F)Tattenai the governor of the region beyond ^[b]the River and Shethar-Boznai and their companions came to them and spoke thus to them: ^(G)“Who has commanded you to build this ^[c]temple and finish this wall?” ⁴^(H)Then, accordingly, we told them the names of the men who were constructing this building. ⁵But ^(I)the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius. Then a ^(J)written answer was returned concerning this matter. ⁶This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai sent:

The governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, ^(K)and his companions, the Persians who were in the region beyond the River, to Darius the king.

⁷(They sent a letter to him, in which was written thus.)

To Darius the king:

All peace.

⁸Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the ^[d]temple of the great God, which is being built with ^[e]heavy stones, and timber is being laid in the walls; and this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.

⁹Then we asked those elders, and spoke thus to them: ^(L)“Who commanded you to build this temple and to finish these walls?” ¹⁰We also asked them their names to inform you, that we might write the names of the men who were chief among them.

¹¹And thus they returned us an answer, saying: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the ^[f]temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built ^(M)and completed. ¹²But ^(N)because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of ^(O)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and ^(P)carried the people away to Babylon. ¹³However, in the first year of ^(Q)Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to build this ^[g]house of God. ¹⁴Also, ^(R)the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem and carried into the temple of Babylon—those King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon, and they were given to ^(S)one named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. ¹⁵And he said to him, ‘Take these articles; go, carry them to the temple site that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its former site.’ ¹⁶Then the same Sheshbazzar came and ^(T)laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; but from that time even until now it has been under construction, and ^(U)it is not finished.”

¹⁷Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, ^(V)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.

Footnotes

Ezra 5:2 Jehozadak, 1 Chr. 6:14
Ezra 5:3 The Euphrates
Ezra 5:3 Lit. house
Ezra 5:8 Lit. house
Ezra 5:8 Lit. stones of rolling, stones too heavy to be carried
Ezra 5:11 Lit. house
Ezra 5:13 Temple

Haggai 1

New King James Version

The Command to Build God’s House^(A)

1 In ^(B)the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by ^(C)Haggai the prophet to ^(D)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(E)Joshua the son of ^(F)Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ²“Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” ’ ”

³Then the word of the Lord ^(G)came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴“Is it ^(H)time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this ^[a]temple to lie in ruins?” ⁵Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(I)“Consider your ways!

⁶“You have ^(J)sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And ^(K)he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! ⁸Go up to the ^(L)mountains and bring wood and build the ^[b]temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. ⁹^(M)“You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, ^(N)I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. ¹⁰Therefore ^(O)the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. ¹¹For I ^(P)called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on ^(Q)all the labor of your hands.”

The People’s Obedience

¹²^(R)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the Lord. ¹³Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, ^(S)“I am with you, says the Lord.” ¹⁴So ^(T)the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(U)governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; ^(V)and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, ¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.