The Koine Bible

And in the second year of the reign of Darius, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, the prophets, prophesied over the Jews who were in Judea and Jerusalem, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, over them

Then Zorobabel the son of Salathiel and Jesus the son of Josedek stood up and began to build the house of the Lord, the one in Jerusalem, while the prophets of the Lord were with them, helping them

At that time Sisinnes the governor of Syria and Phoenicia and Sathrabuzenes and the associates came to them and said to them

At whose command are you building this house and this roof and completing all these things, and who are the builders who are completing these things?

And they obtained favor, a visitation having come upon the captivity from the Lord, the elders of the Jews

And they were not hindered from the building until it was made known to Darius concerning them and a reply was given.

A copy of the letter which Sisinnes the governor of Syria and Phoenicia and Sathrabouzanes and the associates who are in Syria and Phoenicia, the rulers, wrote to Darius and sent.

To King Darius, greeting. Let all things be known to our lord the king, that when we came to the country of Judea and came to Jerusalem the city, we found the elders of the Jews of the captivity in Jerusalem the city building a great new house for the Lord, with costly hewn stones and timber laid in the walls.

And those works being done with haste and the work prospering in their hands and being completed with all glory and care

Then we inquired of these elders, saying, By the command of whom are you building this house and laying these works as foundations?

So we questioned them in order to make known to you and to write to you the men who were relating, and we asked them for the list of the leaders.

And they answered us, saying, We are servants of the Lord who made the heaven and the earth.

And the house had been built many years before by a great and mighty king of Israel, and it was completed

And since our fathers, having provoked to bitterness, sinned against the Lord of Israel, the heavenly one, he delivered them into the hands of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, king of the Chaldeans

And having pulled down the house, they burned it, and they took the people captive to Babylon.

And in the first year of Cyrus, king of Babylonia, King Cyrus wrote to build this house

and the sacred vessels, the gold and the silver, which Nebuchadnezzar brought out from the house that was in Jerusalem and placed them in his own temple, Cyrus the king again brought them out from the temple that was in Babylon and they were given over to Zorobabel and Sanabassar the governor

and he was ordered, when he had brought all these vessels, to deposit them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and this temple of the Lord to be built on the place

Then that Sanabassar, having come there, laid the foundations of the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been being built and has not received completion

Now therefore, if it seems good, O king, let there be an investigation in the royal archives of the lord king, those in Babylon.

And if it is found that the building of the house of the Lord who is in Jerusalem was done with the consent of Cyrus the king, and if it seems good to our lord the king, let him speak to us concerning these things.

Then King Darius ordered to search in the royal archives lying in Babylon, and there was found in Ecbatana, in the fortress in the country of Media, one scroll in which these things had been recorded:

In the first year of Cyrus’ reign, King Cyrus ordered the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to be built, where they sacrifice by means of continual fire.

whose height was sixty cubits, width sixty cubits, with three courses of hewn stone and one course of new native wood, and the expense to be given from the house of Cyrus the king

and the sacred vessels of the house of the Lord, both the gold and the silver, which Nebuchadnezzar brought out from the house that was in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, to be restored to the house that is in Jerusalem, where they were lying, so that they might be placed there

And he ordered Sisinnes, the governor of Syria and Phoenicia, and Sathrabouzas and the associates and the rulers appointed in Syria and Phoenicia, to refrain from the place, but to leave Zorobabel, the servant of the Lord, the governor of Judea, and the elders of the Jews, to build that house of the Lord on that place

And I also ordered to build it wholly and to look to it, that they might cooperate with those from the captivity of Judea until the house of the Lord was completed.

and from the tribute of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia a contribution is to be given carefully to these men for sacrifices to the Lord: to Zorobabel the governor, for bulls and rams and lambs

Likewise also wheat and salt and wine and oil, continuously year by year, as the priests who are in Jerusalem may prescribe, to be spent daily, without dispute

so that libations may be offered to God the Most High for the king and the children, and that they may pray concerning their life

And he commanded that as many as should transgress any of the things spoken before and the things written in addition, or even annul them, wood should be taken from his own property and he be hanged upon it, and his possessions should be royal.

For these things also the Lord, whose name has been called there, will destroy every king and nation who shall stretch out his hand to hinder or to do evil to that house of the Lord, that one in Jerusalem

I, King Darius, have decreed carefully that these things be done.