Ezra 6

1 Then Darius king the he made a decree and they searched - in [the] house books the where treasures the [were] deposited there in Babylon.

[Later] Darius [became the ruler of the Persian Empire. When the enemies of the Israelis forced them to stop rebuilding the temple, the Persian officials sent a message to King Darius. They asked him to] search the records in the (archives/government records), in the building where the king stored the important documents, [to find out whether King Cyrus had authorized that the temple should be rebuilt].

2 And it was found in Ecbatana in citadel the which [is] in Media province the a scroll one and as follows it was written in midst its memorandum.

[The king commanded someone to search there, but those documents were not there in Babylon]. They found a scroll at the fort in Ecbatana, in Media province, [that contained the information that they wanted to know]. This is what was written on that scroll:

3 In year one of Cyrus king the Cyrus king the he made a decree [the] house of God in Jerusalem house the let it be built a place which [they were] sacrificing sacrifices and foundations its [be] retained height its cubits sixty width its cubits sixty.

“During the first year that Cyrus [ruled the empire], he sent out a decree concerning the temple of God which is at Jerusalem. In the decree it was stated that a new temple must be built at the same place that [the Israeli people previously] had offered sacrifices, where the [original] foundation [of the first temple] was. The temple must be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide.

4 Rows of stone of rolling three and a row of timber new and expense the from [the] house of king the let it be given.

The building must be made from large stones. After putting down three layers of stones, a layer of timber must be put on top of them. This work will be paid for by money from my treasury.

5 And also [the] vessels of [the] house of God of gold and silver which Nebuchadnezzar he brought out from temple the which [was] in Jerusalem and he carried to Babylon let them send back and let it go to temple the which [is] in Jerusalem to place its so you may deposit [them] in [the] house of God.

Also, the gold and silver utensils that King Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple of God in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon must be taken back to Jerusalem. They must be put in God’s temple just as they were in the previous temple.”

6 Now O Tattenai [the] governor of [the] region beyond river the Shethar-Bozenai and associates their officials the who [are] in [the] region beyond river the far be! from there.

After reading this, King Darius sent this message [to the leaders of the Israeli people’s enemies in Jerusalem]: “This is a message for Tattenai, the governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, and for [his assistant] Shethar-Bozenai, and for all your colleagues: Stay away from that area!

7 Leave! [the] work of [the] house of God this [the] governor of Jews the and [the] elders of Jews the [the] house of God this let them build on place its.

Do not (interfere with/hinder) the work of building the temple of God! The temple must be rebuilt at the same place where the former temple was. And do not hinder the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews [while they are doing this work].

8 And from me it is made a decree to whatever that you will do with [the] elders of Jews the these to build [the] house of God this and from [the] properti of king the which [is] [the] tribute of [the] region beyond river the diligently expense the let it be given to men the these that not to make to cease.

“Furthermore, I declare that you must help these leaders of the Jews as they rebuild this temple of God [by giving them funds for the building work].

9 And whatever things needed and young of bulls and rams and lambs - for burnt offerings - to [the] God of heavens the wheat salt - wine and oil according to [the] word of priests the who [are] in Jerusalem it will be given to them day - by day that not negligence.

“The Jewish priests in Jerusalem need young bulls and rams and lambs to sacrifice as they make burned offerings to the God of heaven. You must give them the animals that they need. Also, you must be certain to give them the wheat, salt, wine, and [olive] oil that they need each day [for those sacrifices].

10 That they will be offering soothing offerings to [the] God of heavens the and praying for [the] life of king the and sons his.

If you do that, the Jewish priests will be able to offer sacrifices that please the God who is in heaven, and they will pray that God will bless me and my sons.

11 And from me it is made a decree that every person who he will violate command the this let it be pulled away a beam from house his and [he will] be lifted up let him be impaled on it and house his a refuse-heap let it be made on this.

“If anyone disobeys this decree, [my soldiers] will pull a beam from his house. Then [after they sharpen one end of the beam, ] they will lift that man up and impale him on that beam. Then they will [completely destroy that man’s house until only] a pile of rubble is left.

12 And God who he has caused to dwell name his there may he overthrow every king and people who - he will stretch out hand his to violate to destroy [the] house of God this which [is] in Jerusalem I Darius I make a decree diligently let it be done.

God has chosen [that city of] Jerusalem as the place where people will honor him [MTY]. What I desire is that he will get rid of any king or any nation that tries to change this decree or tries to destroy that temple in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have made this decree. It must be obeyed quickly and thoroughly.”

13 Then Tattenai [the] governor of [the] region beyond river the Shethar-Bozenai and associates their before that he had sent Darius king the accordingly diligently they did.

Tattenai, the governor of the province, and [his assistant] Shethar-Bozenai and their colleagues [read the message and] immediately obeyed the decree of King Darius.

14 And [the] elders of Jews the [were] building and prospering by [the] prophesying of Haggai (prophet the *Q(K)*) and Zechariah [the] son of Iddo and they built and they finished according to [the] decree of [the] God of Israel and according to [the] decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes [the] king of Persia.

So the Jewish leaders continued their work [of rebuilding the temple]. They were greatly encouraged by the messages that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah preached. The Israelis continued building the temple, just like God had commanded them to do and like King Cyrus had decreed.

15 And it was brought forth house the this until day three of [the] month of Adar which it [was] year six of [the] reign of Darius king the.

They finished building it on March 12, during the sixth year that King Darius [ruled].

16 And they made [the] people of Israel priests the and Levites the and [the] rest of [the] people of exile the [the] dedication of [the] house of God this with joy.

Then the priests and the Levites and all the other Israeli people who had returned from Babylon very joyfully dedicated the temple.

17 And they offered for [the] dedication of [the] house of God this bulls one hundred rams two hundred lambs four hundred and he-goats of goats (for a sin offering *Q(K)*) on all Israel two [plus] ten to [the] number of [the] tribes of Israel.

During [the ceremony to] dedicate the temple, they sacrificed 100 young bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs. They also sacrificed twelve male goats as an offering in order that [God would forgive] the sins of the people of the twelve tribes of Israel.

18 And they appointed priests the in divisions their and Levites the in classes their over [the] service of God which [is] in Jerusalem according to [the] writing of [the] book of Moses.

Then the priests and Levites were divided into groups that would [take turns to] serve at the temple. They did this according to what Moses had written [many years previously] in the laws [that he wrote].

19 And they celebrated [the] children of the exile the passover on [day] four-teen of the month the first.

On April 21, the Jews who had returned from Babylon celebrated the Passover Festival.

20 For they had purified themselves the priests and the Levites as one all of them [were] pure and they slaughtered the passover for all [the] children of the exile and for brothers their the priests and for themselves.

[To qualify themselves for offering the sacrifices], the priests and Levites had already purified themselves by performing certain rituals. Then they slaughtered the lambs for the benefit of all the people who had returned from Babylon, for the other priests, and for themselves.

21 And they ate [the] people of Israel who had returned from the exile and every [one who] had separated himself from [the] uncleanness of [the] nations of the land to them to seek Yahweh [the] God of Israel.

Those who had returned from Babylon and the other people in that land who had turned away from their immoral practices in order to worship Yahweh, the God of the Israeli people, ate the Passover meal.

22 And they celebrated [the] feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy for - he had made rejoice them Yahweh and he had turned [the] heart of [the] king of Assyria towards them to make strong hands their in [the] work of [the] house of God [the] God of Israel.

They celebrated the Unleavened Bread Festival of [Eating] Unleavened Bread for seven days. The Israeli people throughout the land were joyful because Yahweh had changed the attitude of the king of Assyria toward them, and as a result, the king had helped them to rebuild the temple of God, the one whom they [worshiped].