Ezra 5

1 The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, son of Iddo, gave messages to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem from the God of Israel, their ruler.

And prophesied have the prophets, (Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah son of Iddo) unto the Jews who [are] in Judah and in Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel — unto them.

2 Then Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, son of Jozadak, decided to start work on rebuilding God's Temple in Jerusalem. The prophets of God encouraged them and helped them.

Then have Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, risen, and begun to build the house of God, that [is] in Jerusalem, and with them are the prophets of God supporting them.

3 Almost immediately Tattenai, the governor of the province west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their fellow officials arrived and asked, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and finish it?”

At that time come to them hath Tatnai, governor beyond the river, and Shethar-Boznai, and their companions, and thus they are saying to them, 'Who hath made for you a decree this house to build, and this wall to finish?'

4 Then they asked, “What are the names of the men who are working on this building?”

Then thus we have said to them, 'What [are] the names of the men who are building this building?'

5 But their God was watching over the Jewish leaders, so that they were not prevented from working until a report could be sent to Darius and a written reply with instructions was received.

And the eye of their God hath been upon the elders of the Jews, and they have not caused them to cease till the matter goeth to Darius, and then they send back a letter concerning this thing.

6 The following is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor of the province west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their fellow officials, officials of the province, sent to King Darius.

The copy of a letter that Tatnai, governor beyond the river, hath sent, and Shethar-Boznai and his companions, the Apharsachites who [are] beyond the river, unto Darius the king.

7 The report they sent him read went like this: “To King Darius: Greetings.

A letter they have sent unto him, and thus is it written in it:

8 We wish to inform Your Majesty that we went to the province of Judah, to the Temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, with timber beams being placed on the walls. This work is being done properly and is progressing well.

'To Darius the king, all peace! be it known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the great house of God, and it is built [with] rolled stones, and wood is placed in the walls, and this work is done speedily, and prospering in their hand.

9 We questioned the leaders, asking them, ‘Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and finish it?’

Then we have asked of these elders, thus we have said to them, Who hath made for you a decree this house to build, and this wall to finish?

10 We also asked for their names, so that we could write them down and let you know the names of their leaders.

And also their names we have asked of them, to let thee know, that we might write the names of the men who [are] at their head.

11 This is the answer they gave us. ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the Temple built and completed many years ago by a great king of Israel.

'And thus they have returned us word, saying, We [are] servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was built many years before this, that a great king of Israel built and finished:

12 But our forefathers made the God of heaven angry, so he handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this Temple and deported the people to Babylon.

but after that our fathers made the God of heaven angry, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon the Chaldean, and this house he destroyed, and the people he removed to Babylon;

13 However, Cyrus, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, issued a decree to rebuild this Temple of God.

but in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God,

14 He even gave back the gold and silver items belonging to God's Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem and placed in his temple in Babylon. King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor,

and also, the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, that Nebuchadnezzar had taken forth out of the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, and brought them to the temple of Babylon, them hath Cyrus the king brought forth out of the temple of Babylon, and they have been given to [one], Sheshbazzar [is] his name, whom he made governor,

15 telling him, Take these items and place them in the Temple in Jerusalem. Rebuild God's Temple on its original site.

and said to him, These vessels lift up, go, put them down in the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, and the house of God is builded on its place.

16 So Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of God's Temple in Jerusalem. It has been under construction since then, but hasn't yet been completed.’

Then hath this Sheshbazzar come — he hath laid the foundations of the house of God that [is] in Jerusalem, and from thence even till now it hath been building, and is not finished.

17 So, if Your Majesty wishes, authorize a search to be made of the royal archives in Babylon to discover if there is a record that King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild God's Temple in Jerusalem. Then please let us know Your Majesty's decision in this matter.”

'And now, if to the king it be good, let search be made in the treasure-house of the king, that [is] there in Babylon, whether it be that of Cyrus the king there was made a decree to build this house of God in Jerusalem, and the will of the king concerning this thing he doth send unto us.'