1Then king Darius gave orders, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

2And there was found at Achmetha in the fortress that is in the province of Media a roll, and therein was a record thus written:

3In the first year of king Cyrus, king Cyrus made a decree [concerning] the house of ²⁹God at Jerusalem: Let the house be built for a place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be solidly laid; its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits,

4[with] three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber; and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:

5and also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of ³⁰God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple that is at Jerusalem, in their place; and thou shalt put [them] in the house of ³¹God.

6Therefore Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, be ye far from thence:

7let the work of this house of ³²God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of ³³God in its place.

8Moreover, I give orders what ye shall do to these elders of the Jews, for the building of this house of ³⁴God: that of the king's goods, of the tribute beyond the river, expenses be diligently given to these men, that they be not hindered.

9And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt-offerings to the ³⁵God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;

10that they may present sweet odours to the ³⁶God of the heavens, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.

11Also I have given order that whosoever shall alter this rescript, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made a dunghill for this.

12And the ³⁷God that has caused his name to dwell there overthrow every king and people that shall put forth their hand to alter [or] to destroy this house of ³⁸God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have given [this] order; let it be done diligently.

13Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, because of that which king Darius had sent, did so diligently.

14And the elders of the Jews built; and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and completed [it] according to the commandment of the ³⁹God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

15And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.

16And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of ⁴⁰God with joy;

17and they presented at the dedication of this house of ⁴¹God a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

18And they set the priests in their classes, and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of ⁴²God, which is at Jerusalem: as it is written in the book of Moses.

19And the children of the captivity held the passover upon the fourteenth of the first month.

20For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves as one [man]: they were all pure; and they killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

21And the children of Israel that were come back out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek Jehovah the ⁴³God of Israel, did eat;

22and they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; for Jehovah had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of ⁴⁴God, the ⁴⁵God of Israel.