Temple Rebuilding Resumes (Haggai 1:1–11)
1 UST At that time two prophets were giving messages from God to the Jews living in Jerusalem and in other cities in Judah{, saying that they should continue rebuilding the temple}. Those prophets were Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. They spoke their messages representing the God whom the people of Israel worshiped, the one who ruled them. BSB BSB: Later, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
2 UST So Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak led many other people to start rebuilding the temple of God in Jerusalem again. God’ s prophets Haggai and Zechariah were with them and helping them. BSB BSB: Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
3 UST But then Tattenai, the governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar- Bozenai went to Jerusalem together with some of their officials and said to the people,“Who has permitted you to do all this work to rebuild this temple?” BSB BSB: At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates went to the Jews and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”
4 UST They also asked the Jews to tell them the names of the men who were working on this temple. BSB BSB: They also asked, “What are the names of the men who are constructing this building?”
5 UST However, God was taking care of the Jewish leaders, and their enemies did not make them stop{ building the temple}. Instead, the enemies sent King Darius a report and waited for him to send back a decree about it.{ The decree would either allow the Jewish leaders to finish their work on the temple, or else it would command them to stop their work completely}. BSB BSB: But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.
Tattenai’s Letter to Darius 6 UST This is a copy of the report that Tattenai, governor of the province of Beyond- the- River, Shethar- Bozenai, and their associates,{ who were} the officials of the province of Beyond- the- River, sent to King Darius. BSB BSB: This is the text of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, the officials in the region, sent to King Darius.
7 UST When they sent the report to him, this is what they wrote in it:“King Darius, we hope everything is going well for you. BSB BSB: The report they sent him read as follows: To King Darius: All peace.
8 UST We want you to know that we went to the temple of the great God in the province of Judah. The people are building it with huge stones, and they are putting wooden beams in the walls. They are doing this work very carefully, and they are making good progress. BSB BSB: Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. The people are rebuilding it with large stones and placing timbers in the walls. This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.
9 UST So we asked the Jewish leaders,‘Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple?’ BSB BSB: So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”
10 UST We also asked them for the names of their leaders so that we could write them down and so that we could inform you who their leaders were. BSB BSB: We also asked for their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.
11 UST This is what they told us in reply. They said,‘We serve the God who created heaven and earth. We are rebuilding his temple, which a great king of Israel originally completed many years ago. BSB BSB: And this is the answer they returned: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.
12 UST But our ancestors did things that caused God, who is in heaven, to become very angry. So God allowed{ the armies of} Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, a Chaldean, to conquer them. His armies destroyed that temple, and they took many of the Israelite people to Babylon. BSB BSB: But since our fathers angered the God of heaven, He delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this temple and carried away the people to Babylon.
13 UST However, during the first year that Cyrus ruled as king of Babylon, he decreed that our people could rebuild the temple for God. BSB BSB: In the first year of his reign, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.
14 UST There had been a lot of containers made of gold and silver in the temple of God. Nebuchadnezzar took them from the temple in Jerusalem and brought them to a temple{ for his god} in Babylon. Later, King Cyrus removed those containers from that temple in Babylon and gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed as governor{ of Judah}. BSB BSB: He also removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken and carried there from the temple in Jerusalem. King Cyrus gave these articles to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor
15 UST King Cyrus told Sheshbazzar to take these containers and put them back in the temple in Jerusalem. He also decreed that the Jews should rebuild the temple at the place where it had been before. BSB BSB: and instructed, ‘Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.’
16 UST So Sheshbazzar came here to Jerusalem and{ supervised the men who} laid the foundation of this temple. And since that time, the people have been working on the temple, but they have not finished it yet.’ BSB BSB: So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, but it has not yet been completed.”
17 UST Therefore, your Majesty, please order your officials to search in the place in Babylon where you keep the royal records. Have them find out whether or not it is true that King Cyrus decreed that the Jews should rebuild this temple of God in Jerusalem. Then please tell us what you would like us to do about this matter.” BSB BSB: Now, therefore, if it pleases the king, let a search be made of the royal archives in Babylon to see if King Cyrus did indeed issue a decree to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.
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