Chapter 6
1 Then Darius the king made a decree , and the house of the archives , where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was searched.
2 A scroll was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media , and in it this was written for a record :
3 In the first year of Cyrus the king , Cyrus the king made a decree : Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem , let the house be built , the place where they offer sacrifices , and let its foundations be strongly laid , with its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits;
4 with three courses of great stones and a course of new timber. Let the expenses be given out of the king ’s house .
5 Also let the gold and silver vessels of God’s house , which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem , everything to its place . You shall put them in God’s house .
6 Now therefore , Tattenai , governor beyond the River , Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River , you must stay far from there .
7 Leave the work of this house of God alone ; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.
8 Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king ’s goods , even of the tribute beyond the River , expenses must be given with all diligence to these men , that they not be hindered.
9 That which they have need of , including young bulls , rams , and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven ; also wheat , salt , wine , and oil , according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem , let it be given them day by day without fail ,
10 that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven , and pray for the life of the king and of his sons .
11 I have also made a decree that whoever alters this message, let a beam be pulled out from his house , and let him be lifted up and fastened on it ; and let his house be made a dunghill for this .
12 May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter this , to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem . I Darius have made a decree . Let it be done with all diligence.
13 Then Tattenai , the governor beyond the River , Shetharbozenai, and their companions did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the king had sent a decree.
14 The elders of the Jews built and prospered , through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo . They built and finished it , according to the commandment of the God of Israel , and according to the decree of Cyrus , Darius , and Artaxerxes king of Persia .
15 This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king .
16 The children of Israel , the priests , the Levites , and the rest of the children of the captivity , kept the dedication of this house of God with joy .
17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls , two hundred rams , four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel , twelve male goats , according to the number of the tribes of Israel .
18 They set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses , for the service of God which is at Jerusalem , as it is written in the book of Moses .
19 The children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month .
20 Because the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, all of them were pure . They killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity , for their brothers the priests , and for themselves .
21 The children of Israel who had returned out of the captivity , and all who had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land to seek the LORD , the God of Israel , ate,
22 and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy ; because the LORD had made them joyful , and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them , to strengthen their hands in the work of God , the God of Israel ’s house .