Ezra 5

1 At that time two prophets gave messages from God to the Jews in Jerusalem and [other cities in] Judah. The prophets were Haggai and Zechariah, who was a descendant of Iddo. They spoke those messages representing God, whom the Israelis [worshiped/belonged to], the one who was their true king.

And he prophesied Haggai (prophet the *Q(K)*) and Zechariah [the] son of Iddo (prophets the *Q(k)*) to Jews the who [were] in Judah and in Jerusalem in [the] name of [the] God of Israel [who was] over them.

2 Then Zerubbabel and Shealtiel [led many other people] as they started [again] to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. And God’s prophets [Haggai and Zechariah] were with them and helped them.

Then they arose Zerubbabel [the] son of Shealtiel and Jeshua [the] son of Jozadak and they began to build [the] house of God which [is] in Jerusalem and [were] with them (prophets the *Q(k)*) of God supporting them.

3 Then Tattenai the governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River and Shethar-Bozenai his assistant and [some of] their officials went to Jerusalem and said to the people, “Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple and put furnishings in it?”

At it time the he came to them Tattenai [the] governor of [the] region beyond river the and Shethar-Bozenai and associates their and as follows [they were] saying to them who? did he make for you a decree house the this to build and structure the this to finish.

4 They also requested the people to tell them the names of the men who were working [at the temple]. [But the people refused].

Then as follows we said to them what? [are] they [the] names of men the who this building the [are] building.

5 However, God was taking care of the Jewish leaders, so their enemies were not able to prevent the people from continuing [to rebuild the temple]. [They continued to work while their enemies] sent a report to King Darius, and asked him [what he wanted them to do] about it.

And [the] eye of God their it was on [the] elders of Jews the and not they made cease them until report the to Darius it will come and then they will send back letter the concerning this.

6 So Tattenai and Shethar-Bozenai and their officials sent a report to King Darius.

copy of Letter the which he sent Tattenai - [the] governor of [the] region beyond river the and Shethar-Bozenai and associates his officials the who [were] in [the] region beyond river the to Darius king the.

7 This is what they wrote: “King Darius, we hope that things are going well for you!

Word the they sent to him and according to this it was written in midst its to Darius king the peace the all.

8 [“We want you to know that] we went to Judah Province, where the temple of the great God is being rebuilt. The people are building it with huge stones, and they are putting wooden beams in the walls. The work is being done very carefully, and they are progressing well.

Known - let it be to king the that we went to Judea province the to [the] house of God the great and it [is] being built stone of rolling and timber [is] being set in walls the and work the this diligently [is] being done and [is] prospering in hand their.

9 “We asked the Jewish leaders, ‘Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple and put furnishings in it?’

Then we asked to elders the these as follows we said to them who? did he make for you a decree house the this to build and structure the this to finish.

10 And we requested them to tell us the names of their leaders, in order that we could tell you who they were.

And also names their we asked (to them *LA(bh)*) to make known to you that we will write [the] name of men the who [are] at heads their.

11 “But [instead of telling us their leaders’ names, ] what they said was, ‘We serve the God [who created] the heaven and the earth. Many years ago a great king [who ruled] us Israeli people [told our ancestors to] build a temple here, and now we are rebuilding it.

And as follows word the they sent back to us to say we they [are] servants his of [the] God of heavens the and earth the and [we are] building house the which it was built from [the] former time of this years many and a king of Israel great he built it and he finished it.

12 “'But God, [who rules] in heaven, allowed [the armies of] Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia, to destroy that temple, because our ancestors did things that caused God to become very angry. Nebuchadnezzar’s army took [many of] the [Israeli] people to Babylonia.

But from that they enraged fathers our [the] God of heavens the he gave them in [the] hand of Nebuchadnezzar [the] king of Babylon (Chaldean the *Q(k)*) and house the this he destroyed it and people the he took into exile to Babylon.

13 “'However, during the first year that Cyrus the King of Babylon started to rule, he decreed that the temple of God should be rebuilt.

Nevertheless in year one of Cyrus king the of Babylon Cyrus king the he made a decree [the] house of God this to build.

14 Cyrus returned [to the Jewish leaders] all the gold and silver cups that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem and which had been put in the temple in Babylon. Those cups were given to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom King Cyrus had appointed to be the governor in Judah.

And also vessels the of [the] house of God of gold and silver which Nebuchadnezzar he had brought out from temple the which [was] in Jerusalem and he carried them to temple the of Babylon he brought out them Cyrus king the from temple the of Babylon and they were given to Sheshbazzar name his whom governor he had made him.

15 “'The king instructed him to take the cups back to Jerusalem, to the place [from which they had previously been taken]. He also decreed that they should rebuild the temple at the place where it had been before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar to be the governor in Judah. He also sent all those things made of gold and silver, for Sheshbazzar to put in the new temple.

And he said to him - (these *Q(K)*) vessels the take! go! deposit! them in temple the which [is] in Jerusalem and [the] house of God let it be built on place its.

16 So Sheshbazzar did that. He came here to Jerusalem, and [supervised the men who] laid the foundation of the temple. And since that time, the people have been working on the temple, but it is not finished yet.’

Then Sheshbazzar this he came he laid foundations the of [the] house of God which [is] in Jerusalem and from then and until now [it is] being built and not [it is] finished.

17 “Therefore, your majesty, please order someone to search in the place in Babylon where the important records are kept, to find out whether [it is true that] King Cyrus decreed that God’s temple should be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then you can tell us what you want us to do about this matter.”

And now if to king the [it is] good let it be searched in [the] house of treasures the of king the there which [are] in Babylon whether there [is] that from Cyrus king the it was made [is] a decree to build [the] house of God this in Jerusalem and [the] will of king the concerning this let him send to us.