Ezra 6

Then King Darius issued an order, and a search was made in the archives where the treasures were stored in Babylon. A scroll was found in the citadel at Achmetha, in the province of Media, with this record written in it: “In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered, and let its foundations be firmly laid. Let it be about 90 feet high and about 90 feet wide, with three courses of large stones and a course of new timber. Let the expenses be paid from the king's house. Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be returned. Let them go back to their place in the temple in Jerusalem, and deposit them in the house of God.” “Now Tattenai the governor of Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, the Apharsachites in Beyond the River, keep away from there. Do not interfere with the work on this house of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site. I also decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in building this house of God: The expenses are to be paid promptly to these men from the king's property, from the tribute of Beyond the River, so that the work does not stop. Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and oil—is to be given to them day by day without fail, as the priests in Jerusalem request, so that they may offer sacrifices of a pleasing aroma to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. I also decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam is to be pulled from his house, and he is to be raised and impaled on it. His house is to be made a heap of dung because of this. May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow every king and every nation that stretches out a hand to alter or destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.” Then Tattenai the governor of Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently did what King Darius had sent word to do. The elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They built and completed the house according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. This house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. The Israelites—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles—joyfully celebrated the dedication of this house of God. For the dedication of this house of God, they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. They appointed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God in Jerusalem, as written in the Book of Moses. The returned exiles celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. They slaughtered the Passover sacrifices for all the returned exiles, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves. The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, along with everyone who had separated himself from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to join them in seeking the LORD, the God of Israel. They joyfully celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days, for the LORD had given them joy and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, strengthening their hands in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

Rights and attribution