1Then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem. They spoke to them in the name of the God of Israel.
2Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak got up and began to build the house of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, helping them.
3At that same time Tatnai, the governor of the land on this side of the river, came to them with Shetharboznai and their companions. They said to them, "Who commanded you to build this house and to finish this wall?"
4Then we spoke to them like this, "What are the names of the men who are putting up this building?"
5But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that the officials could not make them stop until the matter came to Darius. Then an answer came back by letter about this matter.
6This is a copy of the letter that Tatnai, the governor of the land on this side of the river, and Shetharboznai and his companions the Apharsachites, who were on this side of the river, sent to King Darius.
7They sent him a letter, and this was written in it: "To Darius the king, all peace."
8"Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God. It is being built with great stones, and timber is being laid in the walls. This work is going ahead quickly and is going well in their hands."
9"Then we asked those elders and said to them, 'Who commanded you to build this house and to finish these walls?'"
10"We also asked their names, so that we could tell you, and write down the names of the men who are their leaders."
11"And this is the answer they gave us: 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building the house that was built many years ago. A great king of Israel built it and set it up."
12"'But our fathers made the God of heaven angry. So he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried the people away to Babylon."
13"'But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, that same King Cyrus made a decree that this house of God should be built."
14"'And there were also the vessels of gold and silver from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon. King Cyrus took them out of the temple of Babylon, and they were handed over to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor."
15"'And he said to him, Take these vessels, go, and carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem. And let the house of God be built in its place."
16"'Then this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem. From that time until now it has been under construction, and it is still not finished.'"