Ezra 5

Temple Rebuilding Resumesⓘ

Haggai and Zechariah spur the work on¹Later, 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. ²Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak^a rose up and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

³At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates,^b Shethar-bozenai, and their associates went to the Jews and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”

⁴They also asked,^c “What are the names of the men who are constructing this building?”

⁵But 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.

Tattenaiʼs Letter to Dariusⓘ

Tattenai's report to King Darius⁶This 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. ⁷The report they sent him read as follows:

To King Darius:

All peace.

⁸Let 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.

⁹So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”

¹⁰We also asked for their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders^d for your information.

The elders' answer and a request for a search¹¹And 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.

¹²But 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.

¹³In the first year of his reign, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴He also removed from the temple^e 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 ¹⁵and instructed, ‘Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.’

¹⁶So 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.”

¹⁷Now, 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.