The Decree of Darius 1 UDB So King Darius commanded someone to search in the place where important records were kept, but those documents were not there in Babylon. BSB BSB: Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon.
2 UDB They found a scroll in the fortress city of Ecbatana in Media that contained the information that they wanted to know. This is what was written on that scroll: BSB BSB: And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it: Memorandum:
3 UDB "During the first year that Cyrus ruled the empire, he sent out a decree concerning the temple of God that was in Jerusalem. He said that they must build a new temple in the same place where the Israelite people had previously offered sacrifices, where the original foundation of the first temple was. The temple must be twenty-seven meters high and twenty-seven meters wide. BSB BSB: In 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,
4 UDB The building must be made from large stones. After putting down three layers of stones, a layer of timber must be put on top of them. This work will be paid for by money from the royal treasury. BSB BSB: with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.
5 UDB Also, the gold and silver objects that King Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple of God in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon must be taken back to Jerusalem. They must be once again put into God's temple." BSB BSB: Furthermore, 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.
6 UDB After reading this, King Darius sent this message to the leaders of the Jews' enemies in Jerusalem: "This is a message for Tattenai, the governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and for his assistant Shethar-Bozenai, and for all your colleagues: Stay away from that area. BSB BSB: Therefore Darius decreed: To Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates and officials in the region: You must stay away from that place!
7 UDB Do not interfere with the work of building the temple of God. The temple must be rebuilt at the same place where the former temple was. And do not hinder the governor of the Jews or their elders while they are doing this work. BSB BSB: Leave 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.
8 UDB Furthermore, I command you to help these leaders of the Jews as they rebuild this temple of God. You must give them funds for the building work from my treasury among you. BSB BSB: I 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.
9 UDB The Jewish priests in Jerusalem need young bulls and rams and lambs to sacrifice as they make burned offerings to the God of heaven. You must give them the animals that they need. Also, you must be certain to give them the wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil that they need each day for those sacrifices. BSB BSB: Whatever 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.
10 UDB If you do that, they will be able to offer sacrifices that please the God who is in heaven, and they will pray that God will bless me and my sons. BSB BSB: Then 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.
11 UDB If anyone disobeys this decree, my soldiers will pull a beam from his house. Then they will lift that man up and impale him on that beam. Then they will completely destroy that man's house until only a pile of rubble is left. BSB BSB: I 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.
12 UDB God has chosen that city of Jerusalem as the place where people will honor him. What I desire is that he will get rid of any king or any nation that tries to change this decree or tries to destroy that temple in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have made this decree. You must completely obey it." BSB BSB: May 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 13 UDB Tattenai, the governor of the province, and his assistant Shethar-Bozenai and their colleagues read the message and immediately obeyed the decree of King Darius. BSB BSB: In response, Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed.
14 UDB So the Jewish leaders continued their work of rebuilding the temple. They were greatly encouraged by the messages that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah preached. The Israelites continued building the temple, just as God had commanded them to do and as King Cyrus and King Darius had decreed. BSB BSB: So 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.
15 UDB They finished building it on third day of the month of Adar, during the sixth year that King Darius ruled. BSB BSB: And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
Dedication of the Temple 16 UDB Then the priests and the Levites and all the other Israelite people who had returned from Babylon joyfully dedicated the temple. BSB BSB: Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
17 UDB During the ceremony to dedicate the temple, they sacrificed one hundred young bulls, one hundred rams, and four hundred lambs. They also sacrificed twelve male goats as an offering so that God would forgive the sins of the people of the twelve tribes of Israel. BSB BSB: For 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.
18 UDB Then the Jewish leaders divided the priests and Levites into groups that would take turns to serve at the temple. They did this according to what Moses had written many years previously in the laws that he wrote. BSB BSB: They 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 19 UDB On the 14th day of the first month, the Jews who had returned from Babylon celebrated the Passover Festival. BSB BSB: On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover.
20 UDB To qualify themselves for offering the sacrifices, the priests and Levites had already purified themselves by performing certain rituals. Then they slaughtered the lambs for the benefit of all the people who had returned from Babylon, for the other priests, and for themselves. BSB BSB: All 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.
21 UDB Those who had returned from Babylon and who had separated themselves from the unclean people around them who had a different culture, language, and worship, and they were able now to worship Yahweh, the God of the Israelite people, and to eat the Passover meal. BSB BSB: The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.
22 UDB They celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. The Israelite people throughout the land were joyful because Yahweh had changed the attitude of the king of Assyria toward them, and as a result, the king had helped them to rebuild the temple of God, the God of Israel. BSB BSB: For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread 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.
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