Beginning
4 Now the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity built the Temple to the LORD God of Israel.
2 And they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief fathers, and said to them, “We will build with you. For we seek the LORD your God like you; and we have sacrificed to Him since the time of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”
3 Then Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the chief fathers of Israel said to them, “It is not for you but for us to build the House to our God. For we ourselves together will build it to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”
4 Therefore, the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and troubled them in building.
5 And they hired counselors against them to hinder their plans all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia.
6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus (in the beginning of his reign) they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artachshashta, when it was peace, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes, king of Persia. And the writing of the letter was in the Aramites’ writing. And the thing declared was in the language of the Aramites.
8 Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, wrote a letter of this type to Artaxerxes the king, against Jerusalem.
9 Then, Rehum the chancellor wrote, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions Dinai and Apharsathcai, Tarpelai, Persia, Archevai, Bablai, Shushanchai, Dehave, Elamai,
10 and the rest of the people whom the great and noble Osnapper brought over and set in the cities of Samaria, and others who are beyond the River and Cheeneth.
11 This is the copy of the letter that they sent to King Artaxerxes, “THY SERVANTS, the men beyond the River and Cheeneth:
12 “Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have come to Jerusalem (a rebellious and wicked city). And they build and lay the foundations of the walls and have joined the foundations.
13 “Be it known now to the king that if this city is built, and the foundations of the walls laid, they will give neither toll, tribute nor custom. So shall they hinder the king’s tribute.
14 “Now therefore, since we have been brought up in the palace, it was not right for us to see the king’s dishonor. For this reason, we have sent and informed the king,
15 “so that one may search in the Book of the Chronicles of your fathers, and you shall find in the Book of the Chronicles and perceive that this city is rebellious and noisome to kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition in former times, for which reason this city was destroyed.
16 “We inform the king that if this city is built, and the foundation of the walls laid, by this means the portion beyond the River shall not be yours.”
17 The king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe and to the rest of their companions who dwelt in Samaria, and to the others beyond the River (Shelam and Cheeth).
18 “The letter which you sent to us has been openly read before me.
19 “And I have commanded, and they have searched, and found, that this city has made insurrection against kings in former times and has rebelled. And rebellion has been committed in it.
20 “Also, there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all beyond the River. And toll, tribute and custom were given to them.
21 “Now make a decree that those men may cease, and that the city not be built until I have given commandment.
22 “Be careful now that you do not fail to do this. Why should damage grow to hurt the king?”
23 When the copy of King Artaxerxes’s letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up quickly to Jerusalem, to the Jews, and made them cease by force and power.
24 Then the work of the House of God which was in Jerusalem ceased. And it ceased until the second year of Darius, king of Persia.
5 Then Haggai, a Prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, a Prophet, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the Name of the God of Israel to them.
2 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, arose and began to build the House of God at Jerusalem, and with them the Prophets of God, who helped them.
3 At the same time, Tattenai came to them (who was captain beyond the River) and Shethar-Boznai and their companions, and said thus to them, “Who has given you commandment to build this House, and to lay the foundations of these walls?”
4 Then we said to them after this manner, “What are the names of the men who build this building?”
5 But the Eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them stop until the matter came to Darius. And then they answered by letters about it.
6 The copy of the letter that Tattenai, captain beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai and his companions, Persians, (who were beyond the river) sent to King Darius
7 (they sent a letter to him in which it was written): “TO DARIUS the king, all peace.
8 “Be it known to the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the House of the great God, which is built with great stones. And beams are laid in the walls. And this work is wrought speedily and prospers in their hands.
9 “Then asked we those elders, and said to them thus, ‘Who has given you commandment to build this House, and to lay the foundation of these walls?’
10 “We also asked their names so that we might inform you, and so that we might write the names of the men who were their rulers.
11 “But they answered us thus, and said, ‘We are the servants of the God of Heaven and Earth, and build the House that was built of old, many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and founded.
12 ‘But after our fathers had provoked the God of Heaven to wrath, He gave them over into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, the Chaldean. And he destroyed this house and carried the people away captive to Babel.
13 ‘But in the first year of Cyrus, king of Babel, King Cyrus made a decree to build this House of God.
14 ‘And the vessels of gold and silver of the House of God which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the Temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babel—Cyrus the king took those out of the temple of Babel and gave them to Sheshbazzar by name, whom he had made captain.
15 ‘And he said to him, “Take these vessels and go your way, and put them in the Temple that is in Jerusalem. And let the House of God be built in its place.”
16 ‘Then, the same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the House of God, which is in Jerusalem. And since that time until now, it has been under construction. It is not finished yet.’
17 “Now therefore, if it pleases the king, let there be a search made in the house of the king’s treasures which is there in Babel, to find whether a decree has been made by King Cyrus to build this House of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send his pleasure concerning this.”
6 Then King Darius gave commandment. And they searched in the library of the treasures which were laid up there in Babel.
2 And a volume was found in a coffer (in the palace that was in the province of the Medes). And a memorial was written in it:
3 “IN THE FIRST year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus made a decree for the House of God in Jerusalem: ‘Let the House be built, the place where they offered Sacrifices. And let its walls be joined together. Let its height be sixty cubits, and its width sixty cubits,
4 ‘with three rows of great stones, and one row of timber. And let the expenses be given from the king’s house.
5 ‘And also let them render the vessels of the House of God (from gold and silver which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the Temple which was in Jerusalem and brought to Babel). And let each go to the Temple in Jerusalem to its place and put it in the House of God.’
6 “Therefore Tattenai, captain beyond the river, and Shethar-Boznai, (and their companions, Apharsecai, who are beyond the River) stay far from there.
7 “Allow the work of this House of God, so that the captain of the Jews and the elders of the Jews may build this House of God in its place.
8 “For I have given a commandment as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews for the building of this House of God: that the revenue of the king which is from the tribute beyond the River shall immediately be given for these men’s expenses, so that they do not cease.
9 “And that which they shall have need of, let it be given to them day by day, whether it be young bulls, or rams, or lambs for the Burnt Offerings of the God of Heaven, or wheat, salt, wine and oil, according to the appointment of the priests who are in Jerusalem, without fail,
10 “so that they may have sweet odors to offer to the God of Heaven, and pray for the king’s life and for his sons.
11 “And I have made a decree that whoever shall alter this edict shall have the wood pulled down from his house. And it shall be set up, and he shall be hanged on it. And his house shall be made a dunghill for this.
12 “And may the God Who has caused His Name to dwell there destroy all kings and people who make it their intention to alter and to destroy this House of God, which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have made a decree. Let it be done with speed.”
13 Then Tattenai, the captain beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai and their companions, did according to that which Darius had sent, speedily.
14 So the elders of the Jews built. And they prospered by the prophesying of Haggai the Prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, by the appointment of the God of Israel, and by the commandment of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.
15 And this House was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of this House of God with joy,
17 and offered one hundred bulls at the dedication of this House of God, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve goats, for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
18 And they set the priests in their order, and the Levites in their divisions, over the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.
19 And the children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month,
20 for the priests and the Levites were purified altogether. And they killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren, the priests, and for themselves.
21 So, the children of Israel who had come back out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land to seek the LORD God of Israel, ate.
22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy. For the LORD had made them glad and turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to encourage them in the work of the House of God, the God of Israel.
7 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, was Ezra, the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the High Priest.
6 This Ezra came up from Babel and was a scribe, skilled in the Law of Moses which the LORD God of Israel had given. And the king gave him all his request according to the Hand of the LORD his God which was upon him.
7 And in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, some of the children of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, went up to Jerusalem.
8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
9 For upon the first day of the first month, he began to go up from Babel. And on the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem, according to the good Hand of his God that was upon him.
10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach the Precepts and Judgments in Israel.
11 And this is the copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the Priest and scribe, a writer of the Words of the Commandments of the LORD, and of His Statutes, over Israel:
12 “ARTAXERXES, king of kings, to Ezra the Priest and perfect scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, and to Cheeneth,
13 “I have given commandment that every one of the people in my kingdom— of Israel and of the priests and Levites—who is willing to go to Jerusalem with you, shall go.
14 “Therefore, you are sent from the king and his seven counselors to enquire in Judah and Jerusalem, according to the Law of your God which is in your hand,
15 “and to carry the silver and the gold which the king and his counselors willingly offer to the God of Israel (whose habitation is in Jerusalem)
16 “and all the silver and gold that you can find in all the province of Babel, with the free offering of the people, and that which the priests offer willingly to the House of their God which is in Jerusalem,
17 “so that you may speedily buy bulls, rams and lambs, with their Meat Offerings and their Drink Offerings, with this silver. And you shall offer them upon the Altar of the House of your God, which is in Jerusalem.
18 “And whatever it pleases you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and gold, do it according to the will of your God.
19 “And the vessels that are given to you for the service of the House of your God, deliver those before God in Jerusalem.
20 “And the rest that shall be needed for the House of your God, which shall be right for you to bestow, you shall bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.
21 “And I, King Artaxerxes, have given commandment to all the treasurers which are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the Priest and scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven shall require of you, that it be done immediately,
22 “to a hundred talents of silver, to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without writing.
23 “Whatever is by the Commandment of the God of Heaven, let it be done speedily for the House of the God of Heaven. For why should He be angry against the realm of the king and his children?
24 “And we inform you that upon any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, or ministers in this House of God, no governor shall lay toll, tribute or custom.
25 “And you, Ezra (after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand), set judges and arbiters which may judge all the people who are beyond the River, all that know the Law of your God. And teach those who do not know it.
26 “And whoever will not do the Law of your God, and the king’s law, let him have judgment without delay, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.”
27 Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, Who has put such in the king’s heart, to beautify the House of the LORD that is in Jerusalem,
28 and has inclined mercy toward me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes! And I was comforted by the Hand of the LORD my God upon me. And I gathered the chief of Israel to go up with me.
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