Ezra 6 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
So King Darius gave the order, and they searched through the archives stored in the treasury in Babylon.
A scroll was found in the fortress at in the province of Media, and this is what was written on it as an official record:
"In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree regarding the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered, and let its foundations be laid. Its height shall be and its width
"with three layers of large stones and one layer of new timber. And let the cost be from the
"Also, the gold and silver items of the house of God that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon are to be returned. They are to go back to the temple in Jerusalem, each to its proper place. You shall put them in the house of God."
"Now then, Tattenai, governor of the region west of the Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai, and your associates — the officials in the region west of the Euphrates — stay away from there."
"Leave the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site."
"I'm also issuing an order about what you are to do for these Jewish elders building this house of God: The full cost is to be paid to these men from royal funds — from the taxes collected in the region west of the Euphrates — so that the work is not interrupted."
"Whatever is needed — young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request — let it be given to them daily without fail,"
"so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and for the of the and his sons."
"I also decree that if anyone changes this order, a beam shall be pulled from their house, and they shall be on it. And their house shall be turned into a pile of rubble because of this."
"May the God who has to there overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out with full diligence."
Then Tattenai, the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their associates carried out exactly what King Darius had ordered.
So the Jewish elders kept building and making progress, thanks to the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
This house was completed on the third day of the month of in the sixth year of King Darius's reign.
The people of Israel — the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles — celebrated the of this house of God with joy.
For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as an for the of all Israel, male goats — one for each tribe of Israel.
They installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their sections for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it's written in the book of Moses.
On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles celebrated the
The priests and Levites had made themselves — every one of them was prepared. They slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.
The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, along with everyone who had from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel.
They celebrated the of for seven days with joy, because Yahweh had filled them with joy by turning the heart of the of toward them, so that he strengthened their hands in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.