Historical
Initial Offering Ceremonies(A)
3 Seven months after the Israelis had settled in their cities, they all gathered together in Jerusalem as a united body.[a] 2 Then Jozadak’s son Jeshua and his brothers got up, along with Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel and his brothers. They built an altar of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt offerings, as prescribed by the Law of Moses, the man of God.
3 Even though they feared the people in neighboring regions, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before.[b] They offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord—burnt offerings both in the morning and in the evening. 4 They also observed the Festival of Tents[c] as has been prescribed, offering a specific number of daily burnt offerings in accordance with the ordinance of each day. 5 After that, they offered[d] all of the continual burnt offerings and the New Moon sacrifices[e] for all of the designated festivals of the Lord that were being consecrated, along with all the voluntary offerings that were dedicated to the Lord. 6 They began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord from the first day of the seventh month, even though the foundation of the Temple of the Lord had not yet been laid.
Construction Begins on the Temple
7 They paid masons and carpenters in cash.[f] They paid[g] the residents of Sidon and Tyre with food, drink, and oil, for them to bring cedar trees by sea from Lebanon to Joppa in accordance with the order they had obtained from Cyrus, king of Persia.
8 Two years and two months after arriving at the site of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel, Jozadak’s son Jeshua, the relatives of the priests and descendants of Levi, and everyone else who had left the Babylonian[h] captivity for Jerusalem appointed descendants of Levi who were 20 years old and older to oversee the work of the Lord’s Temple.
9 At this time Jeshua, along with his children and relatives, and Kadmiel, with his children and the descendants of Judah, joined the family of Henadad with his children and relatives, and the descendants of Levi in overseeing the work on the Temple of God.
The Temple Foundation is Laid
10 After the builders laid the foundation for the Lord’s Temple, the priests stood in their ministerial robes with trumpets and the descendants of Levi (who were also descendants of Asaph) with cymbals to praise the Lord, according to instructions prepared by[i] David, king of Israel. 11 And they sang in unison[j] to one another, giving thanks to the Lord:
“He is good,
and his gracious love to Israel endures forever.”
And all the people shouted out loudly in praise to the Lord when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid.
Remembering the Former Temple
12 Now a number of the priests, the Levities, and the leading officials of the elders—who were very[k] elderly—had seen the former Temple with their own eyes. When they observed the foundation of the Temple being laid, they wept with a loud voice, while the rest of them shouted for joy. 13 As a result, the people couldn’t distinguish between the noise coming from the shouts of joy and the noise coming from the weeping people, because everyone[l] was shouting loudly and could be heard a long way off.
A Plot to Hinder the Work
4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the descendants of the Babylonian[m] captivity had built their Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families[n] with this message: “Let’s build along with you, because, like you, we seek your God, as do you, and we’ve been making sacrifices to him since the reign of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the families[o] of Israel replied, “You have no part in our plans for[p] building a temple to our God, because we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, in accordance with the decree issued by King Cyrus, king of Persia.”
The Plot Succeeds—for a While
4 After this, the non-Israeli inhabitants[q] of the land undermined[r] the people of Judah, harassing them in their construction work 5 by bribing their consultants in order to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia until Darius became king.[s]
6 At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus, they lodged a formal accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 While Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their co-conspirators wrote in the Aramaic language and script to King Artaxerxes of Persia.
Aramaic:[t]
8 Governor Rehum and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter concerning Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
9 From Governor Rehum
Shimshai the scribe
The rest of their colleagues—
Judges, envoys, officials, Persians, the people of Erech, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, the Elamites) 10 and many other nations whom the great and honorable Osnappar deported and resettled in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the Euphrates[u] River.
11 This is the text of the letter they sent.
To: King Artaxerxes
From: Your servants, the men of the province beyond the Euphrates[v] River.
12 May the king be advised that the Jews who came from you to us have reached Jerusalem and are rebuilding a rebellious and wicked city, having completed its walls and repaired its foundations.
13 May the king be further advised that if this city is rebuilt and its walls erected, its citizens[w] will refuse to pay tributes, taxes, and tariffs, thereby restricting royal revenues.
14 Now, because we are royal employees[x] and are committed to preserving the reputation of the king, we have written to the king and have declared its contents to be true,[y] 15 urging[z] that a search may be made in the official registers of your predecessors.[aa] You will discover in the registers that[ab] this city is a rebellious city, that it is damaging to both kings and provinces, that it has been moved to sedition from time immemorial, and that because of this it was destroyed.
16 We certify to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will lose your land holdings in the province beyond the Euphrates[ac] River.
The Response of Ahasuerus
17 The king replied:
To: Governor Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues living in Samaria, and the remainder living beyond the Euphrates[ad] River.
Greetings:[ae]
18 The memorandum you sent to us has been read and carefully considered.[af] 19 Pursuant to my edict, an investigation has been undertaken. It is noted that this city has fomented rebellion against kings from time immemorial, and that rebellion and sedition has occurred in it.
20 Powerful kings have reigned over Jerusalem, including ruling over all lands beyond the Euphrates[ag] River. Furthermore, taxes, tribute, and tolls have been paid to them.
21 Accordingly, issue an order to force these men to cease their work[ah] so that this city is not rebuilt until you receive further notice from me.
22 Be diligent and take precautions so that you do not neglect your responsibility in this matter. Why should the kingdom sustain any more damage?
Reconstruction Ceases
23 As soon as a copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, to Shimshai the scribe, and to their colleagues, they traveled quickly to Jerusalem and compelled the Jews to cease by force of arms. 24 As a result, work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem ceased and did not begin again until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.
Rebuilding Efforts Begin Again(B)
5 At that time, the prophets Haggai and Iddo’s son Zechariah prophesied specifically to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel. 2 So Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel and Jozadak’s son Jeshua restarted construction of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were there supporting them.
Government Interference
3 Right about then, Trans-Euphrates[ai] Governor Tattenai, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues approached and challenged them. They asked, “Who authorized you to build this Temple and to reconstruct this wall?” 4 In answer, we responded with a list of[aj] the names of the men who were building the structure. 5 But God watched over the Jewish leaders, who could not be forced to stop working until Darius received a report and responded in reply.
A Memorandum
6 Here is a copy of the letter that Trans-Euphrates[ak] Governor Tattenai, Shethar-bozenai, and his colleagues the Trans-Euphrates Persians sent to King Darius. 7 The letter sent to him was written like this:
To: King Darius:
Greetings![al]
8 This is to inform[am] the king that we traveled to the Temple of the great God in the Judean province, which is being built with large stones and reinforced with wooden beams in its walls. The work proceeds diligently and is in capable hands.[an]
9 We asked the elders, “Who authorized you to build this Temple and to reinforce these walls?” 10 We also asked them their names so that we could certify the identities[ao] of their leaders to you.
11 In answer they responded, “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the Temple that was built many years ago by a great king of Israel. 12 But because our predecessors provoked the God of Heaven to become angry, he handed them over to the control[ap] of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this Temple and transported the people to Babylon.
13 “However, during King Cyrus’ first year—that same King Cyrus of Babylon—issued a decree to reconstruct this Temple of God. 14 He delivered into the care of Sheshbazzar (whom he appointed governor) the gold and silver utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem Temple and brought into the Babylonian temple.
15 “And Cyrus[aq] told him, ‘Take these utensils, go to Jerusalem, and carry them to the Temple, after the Temple of God has been built[ar] in its appropriate place.’
16 “Then this very same Sheshbazzar arrived and laid the foundations for the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Since that time until now the Temple has been under construction and is not yet completed.”
17 Accordingly, with your approval we suggest that[as] a search be conducted within the king’s treasury at Babylon to verify[at] whether or not King Cyrus ever issued such a decree to reconstruct this Temple of God in Jerusalem. Then please notify us concerning the king’s pleasure in this matter.
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