6:1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in
the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in
Babylon.
6:2 And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that [is] in
the province of the Medes, a roll, and in it [was] a record
thus written:
6:3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, [the same] Cyrus the
king made a decree [concerning] the house of God at Jerusalem,
Let the house be built, the place where they offered
sacrifices, and let the foundations of it be strongly laid; the
hight of it sixty cubits, [and] the breadth of it sixty cubits;
6:4 [With] three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber:
and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:
6:5 And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of
God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which [is] at
Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and brought
again to the temple which [is] at Jerusalem, [every one] to its
place, and place [them] in the house of God.
6:6 Now [therefore], Tatnai governor beyond the river,
Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who
[are] beyond the river, be ye far from thence:
6:7 Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of
the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God
in its place.
6:8 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 to these men, that they be not hindered.
6:9 And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and
rams, and lambs, for the burnt-offerings of the God of heaven,
wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the
priests who [are] at Jerusalem, let it be given to them day by
day without fail:
6:10 That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savors to the God
of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
6:11 Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall alter this
word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set
up, let him be hanged upon it; and let his house be made a
dunghill for this.
6:12 And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there
destroy all kings and people, that shall attempt 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.
6:13 Then Tatnai governor on this side the river,
Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which
Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.
6:14 And the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered
through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the
son of Iddo. And they built, 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.
6:15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month
Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the
king.
6:16 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites,
and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the
dedication of this house of God with joy,
6:17 And offered at the dedication of this house of God a
hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for
a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to
the number of the tribes of Israel.
6:18 And they set the priests in their divisions, and the
Levites in their courses, for the service of God, who [is] at
Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.
6:19 And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon
the fourteenth [day] of the first month.
6:20 For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all
of them [were] pure, and [they] killed the passover for all the
children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests,
and for themselves.
6:21 And the children of Israel, who had returned from
captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them
from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the
LORD God of Israel, did eat,
6:22 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 of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work
of the house of God, the God of Israel.
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