1Then King Darius gave an order, and a search was made in the house of the records, where the treasures were stored in Babylon.
2And at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a scroll was found, and in it was written this record:
3"In the first year of King Cyrus, the same King Cyrus gave an order about the house of God at Jerusalem: Let the house be built, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid. Its height is to be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits,"
4"with three rows of great stones and a row of new timber. And let the cost be paid out of the king's house."
5"Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be given back. Let them be brought again to the temple at Jerusalem, each one to its place, and put them in the house of God."
6"Now then, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites who are beyond the river, keep far away from there."
7"Leave the work of this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its place."
8"I also give an order about what you are to do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men at once out of the king's goods, out of the tribute from beyond the river, so that they are not held back."
9"And whatever they need - young bulls, rams and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, also wheat, salt, wine and oil - give it to them day by day without fail, as the priests at Jerusalem say."
10"Then they may offer sacrifices of a sweet smell to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons."
11"I also give this order: if anyone changes this word, let a beam be pulled out of his house and set up, and let him be hanged on it. And let his house be made a heap of rubbish for this."
12"And may the God who has made his name live there destroy any king or people who lift a hand to change this, or to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given the order. Let it be done quickly."
13Then Tatnai, governor on this side of the river, Shetharboznai and their companions did exactly what King Darius had sent word to do, and they did it quickly.
14So the elders of the Jews built, and they did well through the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, as the God of Israel had commanded, and as Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia had commanded.
15This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16And the children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of those who had come back from the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.
17At the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams and four hundred lambs; and as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel.
18And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
19Those who had come back from the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
20The priests and the Levites had made themselves clean together; all of them were pure. So they killed the Passover lamb for all those who had come back from the captivity, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.
21And the children of Israel who had come back out of captivity ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land to join them, so as to seek the LORD God of Israel.
22They kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy. For the LORD had made them glad, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.