Chronological
Enemies of the Rebuilding
4 The people of Judah and Benjamin had enemies. They heard that the returned captives were building a Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 So the enemies came to Zerubbabel and the leaders of the families. The enemies said, “Let us help you build. We are like you. We want to worship your God. We have been offering sacrifices to him since the time of Esarhaddon. He was king of Assyria, and he brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the leaders of Israel answered, “No. You people will not help us build a Temple to our God. We will build it ourselves. It is for the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us to do.”
4 Then the people around them tried to discourage the people of Judah. They tried to make them afraid to build. 5 Their enemies hired others to delay the building plans. This went on during the time Cyrus was king of Persia. And it continued to the time Darius was king of Persia.
More Problems for the Builders
6 When Xerxes became king, those enemies wrote a letter against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 Later Artaxerxes became king of Persia. Then Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and those with them wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in the Aramaic language.
8 Also Rehum the governor and Shimshai the governor’s assistant wrote a letter. It was to Artaxerxes the king. And it was against Jerusalem. It said:
9 This letter is from Rehum the governor, Shimshai the assistant and others. They are judges and important officers. They are over the men who came from Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon. They are over the Elamite people of Susa. 10 And they are over those whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal forced out of their countries. He forced them to move and settle in the city of Samaria. And he forced them to settle in other places west of the Euphrates River.
11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to Artaxerxes:)
To King Artaxerxes.
From your servants who live west of the Euphrates River.
12 King Artaxerxes, you remember the Jews who came to us from you. You should know they have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that evil city that refuses to obey. They are fixing the walls and repairing the foundations of the buildings.
13 Now, King Artaxerxes, you should know what could happen. If Jerusalem is built and its walls are fixed, Jerusalem will pay no taxes of any kind. Then the amount of money your government collects will be less. 14 Since we must be loyal to the government, we don’t want to see the king dishonored. So we are writing to let the king know. 15 We suggest you search the records of the kings who ruled before you. You will find out that the city of Jerusalem refuses to obey. It makes trouble for kings and areas controlled by Persia. Since long ago it has been a place where disobedience started. That is why it was destroyed. 16 We want you to know this, King Artaxerxes. This city should not be rebuilt and its walls fixed. If it is, you will be left with nothing west of the Euphrates River.
17 King Artaxerxes sent this answer:
To Rehum the governor and Shimshai the assistant. To all the people with them living in Samaria. And to those in other places west of the Euphrates.
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent to us has been translated and read to me. 19 I ordered the records to be searched, and it was done. We found that Jerusalem has a long history of disobedience to kings. It has been a place of problems and trouble. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings. They have ruled over the whole area west of the Euphrates. Taxes of all kinds have been paid to them. 21 Now, give an order for those men to stop work. The city of Jerusalem will not be rebuilt until I say so. 22 Make sure you do this. If it continues, it will hurt the government.
23 A copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes sent was read. It was read to Rehum and Shimshai the assistant and the others. Then they quickly went to the Jews in Jerusalem. They forced them to stop building.
24 So the work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem stopped. It stopped until the second year Darius was king of Persia.
Tattenai’s Letter to Darius
5 Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo were prophets. They prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied in the name of the God of Israel. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak started working again. They worked to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were there, helping them.
3 At that time Tattenai was the governor west of the Euphrates. He and Shethar-Bozenai and others went to the Jews. They asked, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and fix these walls?” 4 They also asked, “What are the names of these men working on this building?” 5 But their God was watching over the elders of the Jews. The builders were not stopped until a report could go to King Darius. And then his written answer had to be received.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, Shethar-Bozenai and the others sent to King Darius. Tattenai was governor west of the Euphrates River. The other people were important officers west of the Euphrates. 7 This is what the report they sent to him said:
To King Darius.
Greetings. May you have peace.
8 King Darius, you should know that we went to the district of Judah. That is where the Temple of the great God is. The people there are building that Temple with large stones. They are putting timbers in the walls. The people are working very hard. And they are building very fast.
9 We asked their elders, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and these walls?” 10 We also asked for their names. We wrote down the names of their leaders so you would know who they are.
11 This is the answer they gave to us: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the Temple that a great king of Israel built. He finished it many years ago. 12 But our ancestors made the God of heaven angry. So God let them be defeated by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He destroyed this Temple. And he took the people to Babylon as captives.
13 “Later, Cyrus was in his first year as king of Babylon. He gave a special order for this Temple to be rebuilt. 14 And Cyrus brought out things from the temple in Babylon. They were the gold and silver bowls and pans that came from the Temple of God. Nebuchadnezzar had taken them from the Temple in Jerusalem. And he had put them in the temple in Babylon.
“Then King Cyrus gave them to Sheshbazzar. He had appointed Sheshbazzar as governor. 15 Cyrus said to him, ‘Take these gold and silver bowls and pans. Put them back in the Temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the Temple of God where it was.’ 16 So Sheshbazzar came. He laid the foundations of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. From that day until now the work has been going on. But it is not yet finished.”
17 Now, if the king wishes, let a search be made. Search the royal records of Babylon to see if King Cyrus gave such an order. See if he gave an order to rebuild this Temple in Jerusalem. Then let the king write us and tell us what he has decided.
The Order of Darius
6 So King Darius gave an order to search the records. They were kept in the treasury in Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the capital city, Ecbatana. It is in the area of Media. This is what was written on it:
Note:
3 King Cyrus gave an order about the Temple of God in Jerusalem. This was in the first year he was king. This was the order:
“Let the Temple be rebuilt. It will be a place to present sacrifices. Let its foundations be laid. The Temple should be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide. 4 It must have three layers of large stones, then one layer of timbers. The costs should be paid from the king’s treasury. 5 The gold and silver things from the Temple of God should be put back in their places. Nebuchadnezzar took those things from the Temple in Jerusalem. And he brought them to Babylon. They are to be put back in the Temple of God in Jerusalem.”
6 Now then, I, Darius, give this order to you, Tattenai, governor west of the Euphrates. And I give it to Shethar-Bozenai and all the officers of that area. Stay away from there. 7 Do not bother or interrupt the work on that Temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this Temple. Let them build it where it was before.
8 Also, I order you to do this for those elders of the Jews. They are building this Temple. The cost of the building is to be fully paid from the royal treasury. The money will come from taxes collected west of the Euphrates River. Do this so the work will not stop. 9 Give those people anything they need. Give them young bulls, male sheep or male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven. Give them wheat, salt, wine or olive oil. Give the priests in Jerusalem anything they ask for. Give it every day without fail. 10 Then they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven. And they can pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11 Also, I give this order: If anyone changes this order, a wood beam is to be pulled from his house. Drive one end of the beam through his body. And because he did this crime, make his house a pile of ruins. 12 God has chosen Jerusalem as the place he is to be worshiped. May he defeat any king or person who tries to change this order. May God destroy anyone who tries to destroy this Temple.
I, Darius, have given this order. Let it be obeyed quickly and carefully.
Completion of the Temple
13 So, Tattenai, the governor west of the Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai and the others obeyed. They carried out King Darius’ order quickly and carefully. 14 So the Jewish elders continued to build. And they were successful because of the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building the Temple as the God of Israel had said. It was also done to obey the kings Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes of Persia. 15 The Temple was finished on the third day of the month Adar. It was the sixth year that Darius was king.
16 Then the people of Israel celebrated. They gave the Temple to God to honor him. Everybody was happy: the priests, the Levites and the rest of the Jews who had returned from captivity. 17 This is how they gave the Temple to God for worshiping him: They offered 100 bulls, 200 male sheep and 400 male lambs as sacrifices. And as an offering to forgive the sins of all Israel, they offered 12 male goats. That is 1 goat for each tribe in Israel. 18 Then they put the priests and the Levites into their separate groups. Each group had a certain time to serve God in the Temple at Jerusalem. This was done just as it is written in the Book of Moses.
The Passover
19 The Jews who returned from captivity celebrated the Passover. This was on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20 The priests and Levites had made themselves clean. The Levites killed the Passover lambs for all the Jews who had returned from captivity. They also did it for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21 So all the people of Israel who returned from captivity ate the Passover lamb. So did those who had given up the unclean ways of their non-Jewish neighbors. They worshiped the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread in a very joyful way. The Lord had made them happy by changing the mind of the King of Assyria. So the king had helped them in the work on the Temple of the God of Israel.
Israelites in Captivity
137 By the rivers in Babylon we sat and cried
when we remembered Jerusalem.
2 On the poplar trees nearby
we hung our harps.
3 Those who captured us asked us to sing.
Our enemies wanted happy songs.
They said, “Sing us a Temple song from Jerusalem!”
4 But we cannot sing songs about the Lord
while we are in this foreign country!
5 Jerusalem, if I forget you,
let my right hand lose its skill.
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you.
Let these things happen if I do not think about Jerusalem
as my greatest joy.
7 Lord, remember what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
They said, “Tear it down!
Tear it down to its foundations!”
8 People of Babylon, you will be destroyed.
The people who pay you back will be happy.
They will punish you for what you did to us.
9 They will grab your babies
and throw them against the rocks.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.