Historical
Darius’s Search
6 King Darius gave the order, and they searched(A) in the library of Babylon in the archives.[a](B) 2 But it was in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Media(C) that a scroll was found with this record written on it:
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree(D) concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:
Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained.[b] Its height is to be ninety feet[c] and its width ninety feet,(E) 4 with three layers of cut[d] stones and one of timber.(F) The cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.[e](G) 5 The gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon must also be returned. They are to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem where they belong[f] and put into the house of God.(H)
Darius’s Decree
6 Therefore, you must stay away from that place, Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your[g] colleagues, the officials in the region.(I) 7 Leave the construction of the house of God alone. Let the governor(J) and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.
8 I hereby issue a decree concerning what you are to do, so that the elders of the Jews can rebuild the house of God:
The cost is to be paid in full to these men out of the royal revenues(K) from the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of the heavens, or wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given to them every day without fail,(L) 10 so that they can offer sacrifices of pleasing aroma to the God of the heavens and pray for the life of the king and his sons.(M)
11 I also issue a decree concerning any man who interferes with this directive:
Let a beam be torn from his house and raised up; he will be impaled on it, and his house will be made into a garbage dump because of this offense.(N) 12 May the God who caused his name to dwell there(O) overthrow any king or people who dares[h] to harm or interfere with this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.
13 Then Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues(P) diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed. 14 So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo.(Q) They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,(R) Darius, and King Artaxerxes(S) of Persia. 15 This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar(T) in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
Temple Dedication and the Passover
16 Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of God’s house they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, as well as twelve male goats(U) as a sin offering for all Israel—one for each Israelite tribe. 18 They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the book of Moses.(V)
19 The exiles(W) observed the Passover(X) on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20 All of the priests and Levites were ceremonially clean, because they had purified themselves. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves, their priestly brothers, and all the exiles.(Y) 21 The Israelites who had returned from exile(Z) ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land[i](AA) in order to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days(AB) with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them[j] in the work on the house of the God of Israel.(AC)
Ezra’s Arrival
7 After these events, during the reign of King Artaxerxes(AD) of Persia, Ezra—
Seraiah’s(AE) son, Azariah’s son,
Hilkiah’s(AF) son, 2 Shallum’s son,
Zadok’s(AG) son, Ahitub’s son,
3 Amariah’s son, Azariah’s son,
Meraioth’s son, 4 Zerahiah’s son,
Uzzi’s son, Bukki’s son,
5 Abishua’s son, Phinehas’s son,
Eleazar’s son, the chief priest Aaron’s son(AH)
6 —came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses,(AI) which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he requested(AJ) because the hand of the Lord his God was on him.(AK) 7 Some of the Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants(AL) accompanied him to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8 Ezra[k] came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the seventh year of the king. 9 He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month(AM) and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month(AN) since the gracious hand of his God was on him.(AO) 10 Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach(AP) its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Letter from Artaxerxes
11 This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the Lord’s commands and statutes for Israel:[l]
12 Artaxerxes, king of kings,(AQ) to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens:
Greetings.
13 I issue a decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who want to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.(AR) 14 You are sent by the king and his seven counselors(AS) to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your possession. 15 You are also to bring the silver and gold the king and his counselors have willingly given to the God of Israel,(AT) whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,(AU) 16 and all the silver and gold you receive throughout the province of Babylon, together with the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.(AV) 17 Then you are to be diligent to buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, along with their grain and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem.(AW) 18 You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God. 19 Deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.(AX) 20 You may use the royal treasury[m] to pay for anything else needed for the house of your God.(AY)
21 I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the region west of the Euphrates River:(AZ)
Whatever Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens, asks of you must be provided in full,(BA) 22 up to 7,500 pounds[n] of silver, 500 bushels[o] of wheat, 550 gallons[p] of wine, 550 gallons of oil, and salt without limit.[q] 23 Whatever is commanded by the God of the heavens must be done diligently for the house of the God of the heavens, so that wrath will not fall on the realm of the king and his sons.(BB) 24 Be advised that you do not have authority to impose tribute, duty, and land tax on any priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25 And you, Ezra, according to[r] God’s wisdom that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region west of the Euphrates who know the laws of your God and to teach anyone who does not know them.(BC) 26 Anyone who does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let the appropriate judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.(BD)
27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s mind(BE) to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,(BF) 28 and who has shown favor to me before the king,(BG) his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God,[s](BH) and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.(BI)
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