Historical

Chapter 6

The Decree of Darius.^{[a] 1} After that, King Darius issued an order to search the archives where the documents were stored in Babylon. ² Eventually in the fortress of Ecbatana,^[b] a scroll was discovered with the following text:

³ “In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus issued this decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered and burnt offerings are presented. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, ⁴ with three layers of massive stones and one layer of timber. The cost is to be defrayed by the royal treasury.

⁵ “Furthermore, the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be given back. Each one is to be returned to its proper place in the temple in Jerusalem and deposited in the house of God.

⁶ “Now you, Tattenai, governor of West-of-Euphrates, and Shethar-bozenai, and your associates, the officials in West-of-Euphrates, keep away from that place. ⁷ Leave the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews alone so that they may continue to work on that house of God. They are to rebuild it on its former site.

⁸ “I have also issued a decree in regard to your dealings with the elders of the Jews to ensure the rebuilding of this house of God. Let these men be repaid for their expenses, in full and without delay, from the royal revenue, the taxes of West-of-Euphrates. ⁹ Whatever else is required—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to what the priests in Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, ¹⁰ so that they may offer sacrifices that are acceptable to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

¹¹ “Furthermore, I have issued a decree: if anyone disobeys this order, a beam shall be torn from his house. Then he is to be impaled on it, and his house is to be reduced to a pile of rubble. ¹² May the God who has established his name there overthrow every king or people who may presume to change or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be strictly obeyed.”

¹³ The Work Completed. Then Tattenai, the governor of West-of-Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates fully carried out the instructions sent to them by King Darius, ¹⁴ and the elders of the Jews continued to make good progress with the rebuilding. Supported by the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, they completed the reconstruction in accordance with the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the king of Persia.

¹⁵ This temple was completed on the twenty-third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. ¹⁶ The Israelites—the priests, the Levites, and the remainder of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷ For the dedication of this house of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ Then they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions for the service of God in Jerusalem, as prescribed in the Book of Moses.

¹⁹ The Passover. The exiles celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²⁰ For both the priests and the Levites had purified themselves, and they were all ceremonially clean. The Levites sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles who had returned, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.

²¹ Therefore, the Israelites who had returned from exile, as well as those who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ate the Passover lamb. ²² For seven days they joyfully celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice by making the king of Assyria change his attitude toward them, so that he supported them in their work on the house of God, the God of Israel.^[c]

The Deeds of Ezra^[d]

Chapter 7

Ezra the Scribe. ¹ After these occurrences, during the reign of Artaxerxes,^[e] king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, ² son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ³ son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, ⁴ son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵ son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of the high priest Aaron— ⁶ this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which was given by the Lord, the God of Israel, and the king granted him everything that he requested, since the hand of the Lord God was upon him.

⁷ Ezra was accompanied to Jerusalem by a number of Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple slaves in the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes. ⁸ Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king’s reign.

⁹ On the first day of the first month, Ezra had ordered the departure from Babylon, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, since the gracious hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰ For he had devoted himself to the study and observance of the law of the Lord so as to put that law into practice and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.

¹¹ The Decree of Artaxerxes. This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest-scribe, a scholar in matters pertaining to the commandments and statutes of the Lord for Israel:^[f]

¹² “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest-scribe, a scholar versed in the commandments and statutes of the Lord for Israel. ¹³ I have issued a decree stating that any of the people of Israel in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who freely choose to go up to Jerusalem with you are free to do so. ¹⁴ For you are being sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries as to how the law of your God in which you are extremely knowledgeable is being followed in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁵ “You are also to convey the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have voluntarily offered to the God of Israel whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ as well as all the silver and gold which you may receive throughout the province of Babylon and the voluntary offerings that have been freely contributed by the people and the priests for the house of their God in Jerusalem.

¹⁷ “You must spend this money with extreme care to purchase bulls, rams, and lambs, as well as the cereal offerings and libations, and sacrifice them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ As for the remainder of the silver and gold, you and your brothers may do whatever seems best to you. ¹⁹ In the presence of the God of Israel you are to deliver those vessels that have been given to you for the service of the house of your God. ²⁰ As for whatever else is required and you are obliged to supply for the needs of the house of your God, you may supply from the royal treasury.

²¹ “I, King Artaxerxes, have issued this decree to all the treasurers of West-of-Euphrates: Whatever the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may request of you is to be provided to him exactly, ²² up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths of oil, and unlimited amounts of salt. ²³ Let everything that the God of heaven commands be carried out exactly for the house of the God of heaven so that wrath may not be inflicted upon the realm of the king and his sons. ²⁴ We also wish to make clear to you that it is against the law to impose a tribute, tax, or toll on any priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple slaves, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵ “As for you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God which you possess, you are to appoint magistrates and judges^[g] to administer justice to all the people in West-of-Euphrates—to all, that is, who know the laws of your God. Furthermore, you are to instruct all those who do not know these laws. ²⁶ Whoever refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king is to have judgment be strictly executed, whether the penalty be death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.”

²⁷ Ezra and His Companions. Then Ezra said: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has influenced the heart of the king in this way to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and who permitted me to be granted the faithful love of the king and his counselors and all the most powerful of the king’s officials. Because the hand of the Lord, my God was upon me, I assembled those Israelite leaders to accompany me.”^[h]