Ezra 5
Temple Work Resumed
1When the prophets, aHaggai the prophet and bZechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them, 2then cZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and dthe prophets of God were with them supporting them. 3At that time eTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the ▼▼ I.e. Euphrates River, and so throughout the ch
River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them thus, g“Who issued you a decree to rebuild this ▼▼ Lit house, and so in vv 9, 11, 12
temple and to finish this structure?” 4 iThen we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were reconstructing this building. 5But jthe eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could come to Darius, and then a written reply be returned concerning it. Adversaries Write to Darius
6 This is the copy of the letter which kTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues lthe officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7They sent a report to him in which it was written thus: “To Darius the king, all peace. 8“Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is being built with huge stones, and ▼▼ Lit timber is
beams are being laid in the walls; and this work is going on with great care and is succeeding in their hands. 9“Then we asked those elders and said to them thus, ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’ 10“We also asked them their names so as to inform you, and that we might write down the names of the men who were at their head. 11“Thus they ▼▼ Lit returned us the word
answered us, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, owhich a great king of Israel built and finished. 12‘But pbecause our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, qHe gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon. 13‘However, rin the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus sissued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14‘Also tthe gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple ▼▼ Lit that was in
in Jerusalem, and brought them to the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one vwhose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. 15‘He said to him, “Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple ▼▼ Lit that is in
in Jerusalem and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place.” 16‘Then that Sheshbazzar came and xlaid the foundations of the house of God ▼▼ Lit that is in
in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is znot yet completed.’ 17“Now if it pleases the king, aalet a search be conducted in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, if it be that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send to us his decision concerning this matter.”
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