The Decree of Darius

1Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon. 2And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it:

Memorandum:

3In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:

Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its foundations be firmly laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,a 4with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.

5Furthermore, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, must also be returned to the temple in Jerusalem and deposited in the house of God.

6Therefore Darius decreed:

To Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates,b Shethar-bozenai, and your associates and officials in the region:

You must stay away from that place! 7Leave this work on the house of God alone. Let the governor and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

8I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God:

The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered. 9Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given to them daily without fail. 10Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.

11I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own house shall be made a pile of rubble for this offense.c 12May God, who has caused His Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to alter this decree or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem.

I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out with diligence.

The Temple Completed

13In response, Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed. 14So the Jewish elders built and prospered through 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. 15And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar,d in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Dedication of the Temple

16Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

17For the dedication of the house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and a sin offering for all Israel of twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel.

18They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

The Returned Exiles Keep the Passover

19On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover. 20All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean.

And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves. 21The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoplese of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.

22For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Breadf with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.