Ezr 6 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then King Darius issued a decree , and a search was conducted in the archives , where the treasures were stored in Babylon .

Ezra 6

Darius Finds Cyrus’ Decree

1 Then King Darius issued a decree, and a ^asearch was conducted in the ^{▼▼Lit house of the books}archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. 2 And in ^{▼▼Aram Achmetha}Ecbatana, in the fortress which is ^din the province of Media, a scroll was found; and the following was written in it: “Memorandum-- 3 ^eIn the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let the ^{▼▼Lit house}temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt, and let ^{▼▼Or perhaps offerings by fire be offered}its foundations be repaired, its height being ^{▼▼About 90 ft. or 27 m}sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, 4 ⁱwith three layers of large stones and ^{▼▼As in LXX; Aram a layer of new timber}one layer of timber. And the cost is to be paid from the ^{▼▼Lit king’s house}royal treasury. 5 Also ^lthe gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned and ^{▼▼Lit go}brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’

6 “Now as for you, ⁿTattenai, governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and ^{▼▼Aram their}your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, ^{▼▼Lit be distant}stay away from there. 7 Leave that work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild that house of God on its site. 8 Furthermore, ^qI issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of that house of God: the full cost is to be paid to those people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and that without interruption. 9 And whatever is needed, bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem order, it is to be given to them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and ^rpray for the lives of the king and his sons. 11 And I issued a decree that ^sany person who violates this decree, a timber shall be pulled out of his house and he shall be impaled on it; and ^this house shall be turned into a refuse heap on account of this. 12 May the God who ^uhas caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who ^{▼▼Lit sends his hand}attempts to ^{▼▼Or violate}change it, so as to destroy that house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; it is to be carried out with all diligence!”

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

13 Then ^xTattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had ^{▼▼Lit sent}ordered. 14 And ^zthe elders of the Jews ^{▼▼Lit were building and succeeding}were successful in building through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And ^{▼▼Lit built and finished}they finished building following the command of the God of Israel and the decree ^acof Cyrus, ^adDarius, and ^aeArtaxerxes king of Persia. 15 Now this ^{▼▼Lit house}temple was completed ^{▼▼Lit until}on the third day of the ^ahmonth Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the ^{▼▼Lit sons of the exile}exiles, ^ajcelebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered for the dedication of this temple of God a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel ^aktwelve male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 Then they appointed the priests to ^altheir divisions and the Levites in ^amtheir sections for the service of God in Jerusalem, ^anas it is written in the Book of Moses.

The Passover Held

19 ^aoThe exiles held the Passover on ^apthe fourteenth of the first month. 20 ^aqFor the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then ^arthey slaughtered the Passover lambs for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves. 21 And the sons of Israel who returned from exile and ^asall those who had separated themselves from ^atthe impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate the Passover. 22 And ^authey held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them happy, and ^avhad turned the heart of ^awthe king of Assyria toward them to ^{▼▼Lit strengthen their hands}encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.