Ezra 6 · The Lantern

The Decree of Darius

Then Darius the king set a decree, and a search was made in the house of the scrolls, where the treasures were laid down there in Babylon.

And there was found at Ecbatana, in the fortress that is in the province of Media, one scroll; and thus it was written within it: “A record.

In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king set a decree: The house of God in Jerusalem — let the house be built, a place where they sacrifice sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid, its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits,

with three courses of rolling stone and one course of new timber; and let the expense be given from the king’s house.

And also the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, which Nebuchadnezzar brought out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon — let them be returned, and go to the temple that is in Jerusalem, to their place, and be set down in the house of God.”

“Now, Tattenai, governor of Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, the officials who are in Beyond the River — be far from there.

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.

And there was nothing astonishing in God having done this,-He who, when, during the captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar, the Scriptures had been corrupted, and when, after seventy years, the Jews had returned to their own land, then, in the times of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, inspired Esdras the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to recast all the words of the former…

And this was nothing wonderful for God to do, who, in the captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar, when the Scriptures had been destroyed, and the Jews had returned to their own country after seventy years, afterwards, in the time of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians, inspired Ezra the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to relate all the words of the former prophets, and to rest…

Ezra, the priest of God, restored the law, which had been burned by the Chaldeans in the archives of the temple. For indeed he was full of the same spirit with which the Scriptures had previously been filled. [De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae, 2.33]

And from me a decree is set for what you shall do with these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: from the king’s goods, from the tribute of Beyond the River, let the expense be diligently given to these men, so that there is no ceasing.

And whatever is needed — young bulls, and rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of the heavens; wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are in Jerusalem — let it be given to them day by day without fail,

so that they may be offering soothing offerings to the God of the heavens, and praying for the life of the king and his sons.

And from me a decree is set that any man who alters this word — let a timber be pulled from his house, and let him be lifted up and impaled on it, and let his house be made a dunghill for this.

And may the God who has made his name dwell there overthrow every king and people who puts out a hand to alter it, to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have set a decree; let it be done diligently.”

The Temple Completed

Then Tattenai, the governor of Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions did diligently according to what Darius the king had sent.

And the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and completed it, from the decree of the God of Israel, and from the decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.

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

Dedication of the Temple

And the sons of Israel — the priests and the Levites and the rest of the sons of the exile — kept the dedication of this house of God with rejoicing.

And they offered for the dedication of this house of God a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

And they made the priests stand in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, over the service of God that is in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

The Returned Exiles Keep the Passover

And the sons of the exile kept the Passover on the fourteenth of the first month.

For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves as one — all of them were pure; and they slaughtered the Passover for all the sons of the exile, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.

And the sons of Israel who had returned from the exile ate it, and everyone who had separated himself to them from the uncleanness of the nations of the land, to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.