Ezra 6
6
King Cyrus' order is rediscovered
1King Darius ordered someone to go through the old records kept in Babylonia. 2Finally, a scroll#6.2 scroll: A roll of paper or special leather used for writing on. was found in Ecbatana, the capital of Media Province, and it said:
This official record will show 3that in the first year Cyrus was king, he gave orders to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem, so that sacrifices and offerings could be presented there.#6.3 so that…there: One possible meaning for the difficult Aramaic text. It is to be built twenty-seven metres high and twenty-seven metres wide, 4with one#6.4 one: One possible meaning for the difficult Aramaic text. row of wooden beams for each three rows of large stones. The royal treasury will pay for everything. 5Then return to their proper places the gold and silver things that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple and brought to Babylonia.
King Darius orders the work to continue
6King Darius sent this message:
Governor Tattenai of Western Province and Shethar Bozenai, you and your advisers must stay away from the temple. 7Let the Jewish governor and leaders rebuild it where it stood before. And stop slowing them down!
8Starting at once, I am ordering you to help the leaders by paying their expenses from the tax money collected in Western Province. 9And don't fail to let the priests in Jerusalem have whatever they need each day so they can offer sacrifices to the God of heaven. Give them young bulls, rams, sheep, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil. 10I want them to be able to offer pleasing sacrifices to God and to pray for me and my family.
11If any of you don't obey this order, a wooden beam will be taken from your house and sharpened on one end. Then it will be driven through your body,#6.11 driven through your body: A well known punishment in the ancient Near East. and your house will be torn down and turned into a rubbish dump. 12I ask the God who is worshipped in Jerusalem to destroy any king or nation who tries either to change what I have said or to tear down his temple. I, Darius, give these orders, and I expect them to be followed carefully.
The temple is dedicated
13Governor Tattenai, Shethar Bozenai, and their advisers carefully obeyed King Darius. 14With great success the Jewish leaders continued working on the temple, while Haggai and Zechariah encouraged them by their preaching. And so, the temple was completed at the command of the God of Israel and by the orders of kings Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes of Persia.#6.14 Artaxerxes of Persia: See the note at 4.7.#Hg 1.1; Zec 1.1. 15On the third day of the month of Adar#6.15 Adar: The twelfth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-February to about mid-March. in the sixth year of the rule of Darius,#6.15 sixth year…Darius: 515 BC. the temple was finished.
16The people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and everyone else who had returned from exile were happy and celebrated as they dedicated God's temple. 17One hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs were offered as sacrifices at the dedication. Also twelve goats were sacrificed as sin offerings for the twelve tribes of Israel. 18Then the priests and Levites were assigned their duties in God's temple in Jerusalem, according to the instructions Moses had written.
The Passover
19Everyone who had returned from exile celebrated Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.#6.19 the first month: Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.#Ex 12.1-20. 20The priests and Levites had gone through a ceremony to make themselves acceptable to lead in worship. Then some of them killed Passover lambs for those who had returned, including the other priests and themselves.
21The sacrifices were eaten by the Israelites who had returned and by the neighbouring people who had given up the sinful customs of other nations in order to worship the LORD God of Israel. 22For seven days they celebrated the Festival of Thin Bread. Everyone was happy because the LORD God of Israel had made sure that the king of Assyria#6.22 king of Assyria: Meaning the king of Persia, because Assyria was now part of the Persian Empire. would be kind to them and help them build the temple.
Currently Selected:
Ezra 6: CEVUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Ezra 6
6
1 Then king Darius instructed, and they searched in the library of books that were deposited in Babylon.
2 And there was found at Ecbatana, which is a fortified place in the province of Media, one volume, and this record was written in it:
3 "In the first year of king Cyrus, Cyrus the king decreed that the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, shall be built in the place where they immolate victims, and that they should set the foundations so as to support a height of sixty cubits and a width of sixty cubits,
4 with three rows of rough stones, and so as to have rows of new timber, and that the expenses shall be given from the house of the king.
5 But also, let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple of Jerusalem, and which he carried away to Babylon, be restored and be carried back to the temple of Jerusalem, to their place, just as they had been placed in the temple of God.
6 Now therefore, let Tattenai, the governor of the region which is beyond the river, Shetharbozenai, and your counselors, the rulers who are beyond the river, withdraw far away from them,
7 and let this temple of God be released to the governor of the Jews and to their elders, so that they may build that house of God in its place.
8 Moreover, it has been instructed by me as to what ought to be done by those priests of the Jews, so that the house of God may be built, specifically, that from the king's treasury, that is, from the tribute which is taken from the region beyond the river, the expenses shall be scrupulously given to those men, so that the work may not be impeded.
9 But if it may be necessary, let also calves, and lambs, and young goats for holocausts to the God of heaven, with grain, salt, wine, and oil, according to the rite of the priests who are in Jerusalem, be given to them for each day, so that there may be no complaint in anything.
10 And let them offer oblations to the God of heaven, and let them pray for the life of the king and for the lives of his sons.
11 Therefore, the decree has been set forth by me, so that, if there be any man who will change this order, a beam shall be taken from his own house, and it shall be set up, and he shall be nailed to it. Then his house shall be confiscated.
12 So then, may the God who has caused his name to live there destroy any kingdoms or people who would extend their hand to fight against or to destroy that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have established the decree, which I wish to be fulfilled scrupulously."
13 Therefore, Tattenai, the governor of the region beyond the river, and Shetharbozenai, and his counselors, in accord with what king Darius had instructed, diligently executed the same.
14 Then the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, in accord with the prophecy of Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. And they built and constructed by the order of the God of Israel, and by the order of Cyrus and Darius, as well as Artaxerxes, the kings of the Persians.
15 And they completed this house of God on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.
16 Then the sons of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the remainder of the sons of the transmigration celebrated the dedication of the house of God with gladness.
17 And they offered, for the dedication of the house of God, one hundred calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and, as a sin offering for all of Israel, twelve he-goats from among the goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
18 And they appointed the priests into their divisions, and the Levites into their turns, over the works of God in Jerusalem, just as it was written in the book of Moses.
19 Then the sons of Israel of the transmigration kept the Passover, on the fourteenth day of the first month.
20 For the priests and Levites had been purified as one. All were cleansed in order to immolate the Passover for all the sons of the transmigration, and for their brothers, the priests, and for themselves.
21 And the sons of Israel, who had been returned from the transmigration, and all those who had separated themselves from the defilement of the Gentiles of the earth to them, so that they might seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ate
22 and kept the solemnity of unleavened bread for seven days with joy. For the Lord had made them joyful, and he had converted the heart of the king of Assur to them, so that he would assist their hands in the work of the house of the Lord, the God of Israel.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in