The Decree of Darius 1 UST So King Darius commanded his servants to search in the places where he kept important records there in the kingdom of Babylon. BSB BSB: Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon.
2 UST They{ searched, and they} found a scroll{ that contained the information that they wanted to know} in the fortress city of Ecbatana in the province of Media. This is what that scroll said: 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 UST “During the first year that King Cyrus ruled the empire, he sent out a decree concerning the temple of God that was in Jerusalem. He said,‘I command that the Jews shall build a new temple in the same place where they had previously offered sacrifices. They must make the temple 27 meters high and 27 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 UST They must build the temple from large stones.{ After putting down} three layers of stones,{ the workers must put} a layer of new timber{ on top of them}. I will pay for this work with 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 UST I also give back{ to the Jews} the gold and silver containers that had belonged to the temple of God but that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon. The Jews must take these and return them to the temple in Jerusalem. The Jews must put each one back in its original place in the temple of God.’” 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 UST { After learning this from the scroll, King Darius had a scribe write that information in a letter that he sent to the leaders of the enemies of the Jews in Jerusalem. He also included this message:}“This is a message for you, Tattenai, the governor of{ the province} west of the{ Euphrates} River, for you, Shethar- Bozenai, and for all of your associates, who are the officials of that province: Stay away from there! 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 UST Allow them to continue the work of rebuilding that temple of God. Allow the governor of the Jews and their elders to lead their people in building this new temple on the same site as the former temple. 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 UST Furthermore, I command you to help these leaders of the Jews{ in the following ways} as they rebuild this temple of God. You must be sure to give these men funds so that they can continue the building work. Take the money from my treasury, from the tribute you collect in{ the province} west of the{ Euphrates} River. 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 UST The priests in Jerusalem need animals to sacrifice as burnt offerings to the God who is in heaven. This may include young bulls or rams or lambs. They may also need wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil{ to go with those sacrifices}. Make sure that you diligently give them whatever they demand of those things every day. 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 UST When you do that, they will be able to offer sacrifices that please the God who is in heaven, and they will be able to 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 UST This is what I command about anyone who disobeys this decree. My soldiers will pull a beam from his house{ and sharpen one end of it}. Then they will bury the other end of the beam in the ground so that it stands upright. Then they will pick that person up and ram his body onto the{ sharpened} beam. Then they will completely destroy that person’ s house until only a pile of rubble is left, because he disobeyed me. 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 UST God himself has chosen that city of Jerusalem as the place where people will honor him. May he get rid of any king or any nation that tries to change this decree or destroy that temple in Jerusalem! I, Darius, make 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 UST Tattenai, the governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar- Bozenai and their associates{ read the message from King Darius and} immediately obeyed what the message from King Darius commanded them to do. 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 UST So the Jewish leaders continued to progress in their work of rebuilding{ the temple}. The messages that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo preached encouraged them greatly. The people worked until they completed{ the temple}, just as their God had commanded them to do, and just as the Persian kings Cyrus and Darius had decreed, and as the Persian king Artaxerxes{ would decree later}. 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 UST The people finished building this temple on the third day of the month of Adar, during the sixth year that King Darius ruled{ the kingdom of Persia}. 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 UST Then the people of Israel,{ that is,} the priests, the Levites, and everyone else who had returned from Babylonia, joyfully dedicated this temple to God. 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 UST During the ceremony to dedicate this temple to God, they sacrificed 100 young bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs. They also sacrificed 12 male goats as an offering so that God would forgive the sins of all the people, because that was how many tribes there were in 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 UST Then the Jewish leaders divided the priests and Levites into groups that would take turns serving in the temple of God in Jerusalem. They did this according to what Moses had written{ many years previously} in the law. 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 UST On the fourteenth day of the first month, the Jews who had returned from Babylonia celebrated the Passover Festival. BSB BSB: On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover.
20 UST { To qualify themselves for offering the sacrifices,} all the priests and Levites had already purified themselves by performing the proper rituals. Then they slaughtered the lambs for the benefit of everyone who had returned from Babylonia, 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 UST All of the Israelite people celebrated the Passover. This included the Israelites who had returned from Babylonia and the people who had separated themselves from the people of the area around them who worshiped other gods. They separated themselves from those people and joined the Israelites so that they could worship Yahweh, the God whom the Israelite people worshiped. 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 UST Then for the next seven days, they joyfully celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread. They were joyful because Yahweh had caused the king of Assyria to be favorable to them. As a result, the king had helped them to rebuild the temple of God, the God whom Israel worshiped. 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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