Ezra 5:1-17
5 And Hagʹgai+ the prophet and Zech·a·riʹah+ the grandson of Idʹdo+ the prophet prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and in Jerusalem, in the name+ of the God of Israel [who was] over them.+
2 It was then that Ze·rubʹba·bel+ the son of She·alʹti·el*+ and Jeshʹu·a+ the son of Je·hozʹa·dak got up and started to rebuild the house of God, which was in Jerusalem; and with them there were God’s prophets+ giving them aid.
3 At that time Tatʹte·nai+ the governor beyond the River+ and Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai and their colleagues came to them, and this is what they were saying to them: “Who put an order through to YOU to build this house and to finish this beam structure?”*+
4 Then they* said to them this: “What are the names of the able-bodied men that are building this building?”
5 And the eye+ of their God proved to be upon+ the older men* of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report could go to Da·riʹus and then an official document concerning this could be sent back.
6 [Here] is a copy+ of the letter that Tatʹte·nai+ the governor beyond the River+ and Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai+ and his colleagues,+ the lesser governors that were beyond the River,* sent to Da·riʹus the king;
7 they sent the word to him, and the writing in it was in this manner:
“To Da·riʹus the king:
“All peace!+
8 Let it become known to the king that we went to the jurisdictional district+ of Judah to the house of the great God,+ and it is being built with stones rolled* [into place], and timbers are being laid in the walls; and that work is being eagerly done and is making progress in their hands.
9 Then we asked these older men. This is what we said to them: ‘Who put an order through to YOU to build this house and to finish this beam structure?’+
10 And we also asked them their names, so as to let you know, that we might write the names of the able-bodied men that are at their head.+
11 “And this is the word that they gave back to us, saying: ‘We are the servants of the God of the heavens and the earth,+ and we are rebuilding the house that had been built many years before this, which a great king of Israel built and finished.+
12 However, because our fathers irritated+ the God of the heavens, he gave+ them into the hand of Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar+ the king of Babylon, the Chal·deʹan,+ and he demolished this house+ and took the people into exile at Babylon.+
13 Nevertheless, in the first year of Cyrus+ the king of Babylon,* Cyrus the king put an order through to rebuild this house of God.+
14 And also the gold and silver vessels+ of the house of God that Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, and brought to the temple of Babylon,*+ these Cyrus the king+ took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were given to Shesh·bazʹzar,*+ the name of the one whom he made governor.+
15 And he said to him: “Take these vessels.+ Go, deposit them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt upon its place.”+
16 When that Shesh·bazʹzar came he laid the foundations of the house of God,+ which is in Jerusalem; and from then until now it is being rebuilt but it has not been completed.’+
17 “And now if to the king it seems good, let there be an investigation+ in the king’s house of treasures that is there in Babylon, whether it is so that from Cyrus the king an order+ was put through to rebuild that house of God in Jerusalem; and the decision of the king concerning this let him send to us.”
Footnotes
^ “This preparation,” LXX; Vg, “these walls.”
^ “They,” LXXSy; MVg, “we.” See vs 10.
^ Or, “elders.”
^ That is, the Euphrates.
^ That is, stones too heavy to be carried.
^ “Babylon,” Vg; M, “Babel”; Sy, “Persia.”
^ “To the temple of Babylon.” Aram., leheh·khelaʼʹ di Va·velʹ; LXX, “to the temple of the king.”
