They Found King Cyrus’ Decree to Rebuild the Lord God’s House |
Ezra 6:1-22 The Book of Ezra in [Smaller Chunks] |
Then, king Darius made a decree & a search was made in the house of [scrolls] where [they put] the treasures of Babylon. A [scroll] was found in the palace at Achmetha [a.k.a. Ecbatana] in the province of the Medes. |
[This] record was written [on it.] In the 1st year of king Cyrus, the king made a decree [about] the house of God [in] Jerusalem. Let the house & the place where they offer sacrifices be [rebuilt.] |
Let the foundations be [strong when it is] laid. The height [of it] 60 cubits & the [width] 60 cubits. With 3 rows of [large] stones & a row of new [lumber] & let the expenses be [paid] out of the king’s [palace.] |
Also, let the golden & silver vessels be [returned to its] own place in the temple, of the [Lord] God, [that] Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple [in] Jerusalem & brought to Babylon. |
Therefore, now, governor, Tatnai, beyond the [Euphrates] River, Shethar Boznai & your companions, the Apharsachites, [stay] far from [there &] let the work of the house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews & the Jew’s elders [rebuild God’s] house in [its own] place. |
[Also,] I decree that the expenses [are] given to these men for building [God’s] house, from the king’s [treasury & revenues of those] beyond the [Euphrates] River, so they [aren’t financially] hindered. |
Give them without fail [whatever] the priest [in] Jerusalem [may] have need of: both young bulls, rams & lambs for the burnt offerings of the [Lord] God of heaven [&] wheat, salt, wine & oil, [so] they may offer sacrifices of sweet [aromas] to the God of heaven & pray for the [lives] of the king & his sons. |
I have also [decreed] that [whoever alters] this word, [shall have the lumber] pulled down from his house & [put] up to [hang him on them.] Let his house be made a [garbage dump] for this. |
I, Darius, have made a decree. Let it be done with speed & the God, Who caused His name to dwell there, destroy all the kings & people [who try] to alter [this.] Then, governor Tatnai, on this side of the [Euphrates] River, Shethar Boznai & their companions speedily did according to [the decree that] king Darius had sent. |
The elders of the Jews [continued to build] & they prospered through the prophesying of the prophet, Haggai & Zechariah, [Iddo’s] son. And they [built] & finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel & according to the [command] of Cyrus, Darius & Artaxerxes, [king] of Persia. |
The [Lord’s] house was finished on the 3rd day of the month Adar, [during] the 6th year king Darius [ruled.] The children [people] of Israel, the priests & the Levites & the rest of [those returned from] captivity kept the dedication of [God’s] house with joy. |
At the dedication of [God’s] house, they offered: 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs & for a sin offering: 12 male goats, according to the number of tribes of Israel. They [appointed] the priests in their divisions & the Levites in their [groups,] for their service of God [in] Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. |
The children [people who returned from] captivity kept the Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month. For the priests & Levites [had] purified [themselves] together & were pure. [They] killed the Passover [animals] for all the [people who returned from] captivity & for their brethren, the priests & for themselves. |
The children [people who had] come again [from] captivity & all [those who] separated themselves from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, [in order to] seek the Lord God of Israel, [ate.] |
[Ezra 9:10-11 O our God & now what shall we say after this? For we have [abandoned] Your commandments, [that] You have commanded by the prophets, Your servants, saying, The land [where] you go to possess, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.] |
[They] kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread 7 days with joy: for the Lord had made them joyful & turned the heart of [Assyria’s] king to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. |