Ezra 6

All 22 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1King Darius then issued an order, and a search was conducted in the royal archives where records were stored in Babylon.
2. 2A scroll was found at Achmetha, in the royal palace in the province of the Medes. This is what was written on it:
3. 3"In the 1st year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree about the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the temple be rebuilt on the site where sacrifices were offered, with its foundations firmly laid. It is to be 60 cubits high and 60 cubits wide,
4. 4with 3 rows of large stones and one row of new timber. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.
5. 5Also, the gold and silver articles from God's house — the ones Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon — must be returned. Every item is to go back to its proper place in the temple in Jerusalem and be put back in God's house."
6. 6Darius then wrote: "Now then — Tatnai, governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shetharboznai, and your fellow officials in that region — stay away from that place.
7. 7Leave the construction of God's house alone. Let the governor of the Jews and their elders rebuild God's house on its original site.
8. 8Furthermore, I am issuing a decree about what you must do for the Jewish elders as they build God's house: their full expenses are to be paid promptly from the royal revenue — specifically from the taxes collected west of the Euphrates — so that the work is not interrupted.
9. 9Whatever they need — young bulls, rams, lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil — must be given to them daily without fail, as the priests in Jerusalem request.
10. 10This way, they can offer sacrifices of sweet aromas to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11. 11I also decree that if anyone changes this order, a beam will be torn from his house, and he will be hanged on it. His house will then be turned into a dunghill.
12. 12And may the God who has caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people who put their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I, Darius, have made a decree; let it be done with speed.
13. 13Tatnai, the governor west of the Euphrates, Shetharboznai, and their fellow officials carried out King Darius's orders promptly.
14. 14The Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They completed the construction according to the commandment of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
15. 15The temple was completed on the 3rd day of the month of Adar, in the 6th year of King Darius's reign.
16. 16And the children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy,
17. 17For the dedication, they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs. They also sacrificed 12 male goats as a sin offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
18. 18They organized the priests into their divisions and the Levites into their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
19. 19On the 14th day of the 1st month, the children of the captivity celebrated the Passover.
20. 20The priests and Levites had all purified themselves together, so every one of them was clean. They slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.
21. 21The children of Israel who had returned from captivity ate the Passover meal, along with all who had separated themselves from the filthiness of the heathen of the land to seek the LORD God of Israel.
22. 22They celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and 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.