Ezra 6
1 [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].
τότε Δαρεῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔθηκεν γνώμην καὶ ἐπεσκέψατο ἐν ταῖς βιβλιοθήκαις ὅπου ἡ γάζα κεῖται ἐν Βαβυλῶνι
2 [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:
καὶ εὑρέθη ἐν πόλει ἐν τῇ βάρει τῆς Μήδων πόλεως κεφαλὶς μία καὶ τοῦτο ἦν γεγραμμένον ἐν αὐτῇ ὑπόμνημα
3 “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.
ἐν ἔτει πρώτῳ Κύρου βασιλέως Κῦρος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔθηκεν γνώμην περὶ οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἐν Ιερουσαλημ οἶκος οἰκοδομηθήτω καὶ τόπος οὗ θυσιάζουσιν τὰ θυσιάσματα καὶ ἔθηκεν ἔπαρμα ὕψος πήχεις ἑξήκοντα πλάτος αὐτοῦ πήχεων ἑξήκοντα
4 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.
καὶ δόμοι λίθινοι κραταιοὶ τρεῖς καὶ δόμος ξύλινος εἷς καὶ ἡ δαπάνη ἐξ οἴκου τοῦ βασιλέως δοθήσεται
5 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.”
καὶ τὰ σκεύη οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χρυσᾶ ἃ Ναβουχοδονοσορ ἐξήνεγκεν ἀπὸ οἴκου τοῦ ἐν Ιερουσαλημ καὶ ἐκόμισεν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα καὶ δοθήτω καὶ ἀπελθάτω εἰς τὸν ναὸν τὸν ἐν Ιερουσαλημ ἐπὶ τόπου οὗ ἐτέθη ἐν οἴκῳ τοῦ θεοῦ
6 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!
νῦν δώσετε ἔπαρχοι πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ Σαθαρβουζανα καὶ οἱ σύνδουλοι αὐτῶν Αφαρσαχαῖοι οἱ ἐν πέρα τοῦ ποταμοῦ μακρὰν ὄντες ἐκεῖθεν
7 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].
ἄφετε τὸ ἔργον οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ οἱ ἀφηγούμενοι τῶν Ιουδαίων καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τῶν Ιουδαίων οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκεῖνον οἰκοδομείτωσαν ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου αὐτοῦ
8 “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].
καὶ ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ ἐτέθη γνώμη μήποτέ τι ποιήσητε μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τῶν Ιουδαίων τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκεῖνον καὶ ἀπὸ ὑπαρχόντων βασιλέως τῶν φόρων πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐπιμελῶς δαπάνη ἔστω διδομένη τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐκείνοις τὸ μὴ καταργηθῆναι
9 “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].
καὶ ὃ ἂν ὑστέρημα καὶ υἱοὺς βοῶν καὶ κριῶν καὶ ἀμνοὺς εἰς ὁλοκαυτώσεις τῷ θεῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πυρούς ἅλας οἶνον ἔλαιον κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα τῶν ἱερέων τῶν ἐν Ιερουσαλημ ἔστω διδόμενον αὐτοῖς ἡμέραν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὃ ἐὰν αἰτήσωσιν
10 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.
ἵνα ὦσιν προσφέροντες εὐωδίας τῷ θεῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ προσεύχωνται εἰς ζωὴν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ
11 “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.
καὶ ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ ἐτέθη γνώμη ὅτι πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἀλλάξει τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο καθαιρεθήσεται ξύλον ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ καὶ ὠρθωμένος παγήσεται ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ οἶκος αὐτοῦ τὸ κατ’ ἐμὲ ποιηθήσεται
12 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.”
καὶ ὁ θεός οὗ κατασκηνοῖ τὸ ὄνομα ἐκεῖ καταστρέψει πάντα βασιλέα καὶ λαόν ὃς ἐκτενεῖ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἀλλάξαι ἢ ἀφανίσαι τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἐν Ιερουσαλημ ἐγὼ Δαρεῖος ἔθηκα γνώμην ἐπιμελῶς ἔσται
13 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.
τότε Θανθαναι ἔπαρχος πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ Σαθαρβουζανα καὶ οἱ σύνδουλοι αὐτοῦ πρὸς ὃ ἀπέστειλεν Δαρεῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς οὕτως ἐποίησαν ἐπιμελῶς
14 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.
καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τῶν Ιουδαίων ᾠκοδομοῦσαν καὶ οἱ Λευῖται ἐν προφητείᾳ Αγγαιου τοῦ προφήτου καὶ Ζαχαριου υἱοῦ Αδδω καὶ ἀνῳκοδόμησαν καὶ κατηρτίσαντο ἀπὸ γνώμης θεοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ ἀπὸ γνώμης Κύρου καὶ Δαρείου καὶ Αρθασασθα βασιλέων Περσῶν
15 They finished building it on March 12, during the sixth year that King Darius [ruled].
καὶ ἐτέλεσαν τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον ἕως ἡμέρας τρίτης μηνὸς Αδαρ ὅ ἐστιν ἔτος ἕκτον τῇ βασιλείᾳ Δαρείου τοῦ βασιλέως
16 Then the priests and the Levites and all the other Israeli people who had returned from Babylon very joyfully dedicated the temple.
καὶ ἐποίησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ οἱ Λευῖται καὶ οἱ κατάλοιποι υἱῶν ἀποικεσίας ἐγκαίνια τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ
17 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.
καὶ προσήνεγκαν εἰς τὰ ἐγκαίνια τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ μόσχους ἑκατόν κριοὺς διακοσίους ἀμνοὺς τετρακοσίους χιμάρους αἰγῶν περὶ ἁμαρτίας ὑπὲρ παντὸς Ισραηλ δώδεκα εἰς ἀριθμὸν φυλῶν Ισραηλ
18 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].
καὶ ἔστησαν τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἐν διαιρέσεσιν αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς Λευίτας ἐν μερισμοῖς αὐτῶν ἐπὶ δουλείᾳ θεοῦ τοῦ ἐν Ιερουσαλημ κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν βιβλίου Μωυσῆ
19 On April 21, the Jews who had returned from Babylon celebrated the Passover Festival.
καὶ ἐποίησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς ἀποικεσίας τὸ πασχα τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ πρώτου
20 [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.
ὅτι ἐκαθαρίσθησαν οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ οἱ Λευῖται ἕως εἷς πάντες καθαροὶ καὶ ἔσφαξαν τὸ πασχα τοῖς πᾶσιν υἱοῖς τῆς ἀποικεσίας καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῶν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν καὶ ἑαυτοῖς
21 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.
καὶ ἔφαγον οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ τὸ πασχα οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀποικεσίας καὶ πᾶς ὁ χωριζόμενος τῆς ἀκαθαρσίας ἐθνῶν τῆς γῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοῦ ἐκζητῆσαι κύριον θεὸν Ισραηλ
22 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].
καὶ ἐποίησαν τὴν ἑορτὴν τῶν ἀζύμων ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ ὅτι εὔφρανεν αὐτοὺς κύριος καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν καρδίαν βασιλέως Ασσουρ ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς κραταιῶσαι τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἐν ἔργοις οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ Ισραηλ
