Ezra
5
- Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the
prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem
in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
- Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua
son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the
prophets of God were with them, helping them.
- At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates,
and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, "Who
authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure ?"
- They also asked, "What are the names
of the men constructing this building ?"
- But the eye of their God was watching over
the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go
to Darius and his written reply be received.
- This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai,
governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the
officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius.
- The report they sent him read as follows:
To King Darius: Cordial greetings.
- The king should know that we went to the
district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building
it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work is being
carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.
- We questioned the elders and asked them,
"Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure
?"
- We also asked them their names, so that
we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.
- This is the answer they gave us: "We
are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the
temple that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built
and finished.
- But because our fathers angered the God
of heaven, he handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon,
who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.
- "However, in the first year of Cyrus
king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.
- He even removed from the temple of Babylon
the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had
taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon. "Then
King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor,
- and he told him, 'Take these articles and
go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God
on its site.'
- So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations
of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been
under construction but is not yet finished."
- Now if it pleases the king, let a search
be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact
issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king
send us his decision in this matter.
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