EZRA 6



Ezr 6:1Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon.

Ezr 6:2And a scroll was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, and on it this was written as a record:

Ezr 6:3In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: Let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices; and let its foundations be raised, its height being sixty cubits, and its width sixty cubits,

Ezr 6:4With three layers of large stones, and one layer of timber; and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house.

Ezr 6:5And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought again to the temple which is in Jerusalem, to its place; and you shall put them in the house of God.

Ezr 6:6Now therefore, Tattenai the governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your companions the officials, in the province beyond the River, keep far away from there.

Ezr 6:7Leave 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 on its site.

Ezr 6:8Moreover I make a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: From the property of the king, even the tribute of the province beyond the River, expenses are to be given in full to these men that the work not cease.

Ezr 6:9And whatever is needed, young bulls and rams and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are in Jerusalem, let it be given to them day by day without fail,

Ezr 6:10That they may offer incense to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

Ezr 6:11Also I have made a decree that whoever alters this word, timber shall be pulled out from his house, and he shall be lifted up and impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill on account of this.

Ezr 6:12And may the God who has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who put forth their hand to alter this or to destroy this house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have made a decree; let it be carried out with all diligence.

Ezr 6:13Then Tattenai the governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, carried out everything with all diligence according to what Darius the king had sent order to do.

Ezr 6:14And the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and according to the decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes the king of Persia.

Ezr 6:15And 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.

Ezr 6:16And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

Ezr 6:17And they offered for the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Ezr 6:18And they set the priests in their courses and the Levites in their divisions for the service of God, which is in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

Ezr 6:19And the children of the captivity held the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Ezr 6:20For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then they slaughtered the passover for all the children of the captivity and for their brothers the priests and for themselves.

Ezr 6:21And the children of Israel who returned from the captivity and all who had separated themselves from the defilement of the nations of the land to join them, to seek Jehovah the God of Israel, ate the passover

Ezr 6:22And held the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for Jehovah had made them joyful and had 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.

Ezra 5 Ezra 7

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