Esdras 6

¹ Then King Darius gaue commandement, & they made search in the librarie of the treasures, which were there layd vp in Babel.

² And there was found atIn which were the acts of the kings of the Medes and Persians.Achmetha, in the palace that [is] in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein [was] a record thus written:

³ In the first yeere of King Cyrus, King Cyrus made a decree for the house of God in Ierusalem, Let the house be buylt, euen the place where they offred sacrifices, and let the walles thereof be ioyned together: let the height thereof be three score cubites, and the breadth thereof three score cubites,

⁴ Three orders of great stones, & one order of timber, and let the expenses be giuen of the Kings house.

⁵ And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which [is] at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, andMeaning Zerubbabel to whom he gives charge.brought again unto the temple which [is] at Jerusalem, [every one] to his place, and place [them] in the house of God.

⁶ Now [therefore], Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which [are] beyond the river, be ye farMeddle not with them neither hinder them.from thence:

⁷ Suffer ye the worke of this house of God, that the captaine of the Iewes and the Elders of the Iewes may buylde this house of God in his place.

⁸ Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, [even] of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they beFor lack of money.not hindered.

⁹ And that which they shall haue neede of, let it be giuen vnto them day by day, whether it be yong bullockes, or rammes, or lambes for the burnt offrings of the God of heauen, wheate, salt, wine, and oyle, according to the appoyntment of the Priestes that are in Ierusalem, that there bee no fault,

¹⁰ That they may haue to offer sweete odours vnto the God of heauen, and praye for the Kings life, and for his sonnes.

¹¹ And I haue made a decree, that whosoeuer shall alter this sentence, the wood shall be pulled downe from his house, and shall be set vp, and he shalbe hanged thereon, & his house shalbe made a dunghill for this.

¹² And the God that hath caused his nameWho has appointed that place to have his Name called on there.to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter [and] to destroy this house of God which [is] at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.

¹³ Then Tatnai the captaine beyond the Riuer, and Shethar Boznai & their companions, according to that which Darius had sent, so they did speedily.

¹⁴ And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying ofWhom God stirs up to assure them that he would give their work good success.Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished [it], according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵ And this house was finished on the third day of the monthThis is the twelfth month and contains part of February and part of March.Adar, which was inThe 42nd year after their first return.the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶ And the children of Israel, the Priestes, and the Leuites, and the residue of the children of the captiuitie kept the dedication of this house of God with ioy,

¹⁷ And offred at the dedication of this house of God an hundreth bullockes, two hundreth rams, foure hundreth lambes, and twelue goates, for the sinne of all Israel, according to the nomber of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁸ And they set the Priests in their order, and the Leuites in their courses ouer the seruice of God in Ierusalem, as it is written in the booke of Moses.

¹⁹ And the childre of the captiuitie kept the Passeouer on ye fourtenth day of the first moneth.

²⁰ (For the Priests and the Leuites were purified altogether) and they killed the Passeouer for all the children of the captiuitie, & for their brethren the Priests, and for themselues.

²¹ And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as hadWho were of the heathen and forsook their idolatry to worship the true God.separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

²² And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king ofMeaning Darius who was king of the Medes, Persians and Assyrians.Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.