Ezra

Then King Darius commanded that inquiries be made in the house of the archives in Babylon, where the records were kept. 

And in Ecbatana, a fortress in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which the following was written:

“In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus issued this decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the foundation of that house be laid, and the house be rebuilt so that sacrifices may be offered. The house shall be thirty meters high and thirty meters wide, 

with three layers of hewn stones and one of wood. The house of the king shall pay for the expenses. 

Moreover, the gold and silver vessels Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple of Jerusalem are to be returned to where they used to be kept in the house of God.

Now, therefore, I say this to you: Tattenai, governor of the province on the other side of the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their Persian counselors living on the other side of the River, do not interfere. 

Let the governor of the Jews and their leaders build the house of God on its former site.

This is the command I give regarding how you should assist those Jewish leaders in rebuilding the house of God: pay the expenses in full and without delay, using the income from the taxes of the province on the other side of the River, which is allocated to the king. 

Then, at the request of the priests of Jerusalem, provide them daily and without fail with what is needed for the sacrifices to the God of Heaven: young bulls, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil.

With these, they shall offer sacrifices acceptable to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 

Moreover, I command the following: if anyone opposes these ordinances, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be hanged on it, and his house reduced to a heap of ruin as punishment for his rebellion. 

And may the God who makes his Name dwell there crush every rebel, king, or people who go against this decree or seek to destroy the house of God in Jerusalem. 

I, Darius, give this command. Let it be carried out at once.”

Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and his counselors acted in conformity with the order of King Darius. 

And the leaders of the Jews continued to make progress in building, encouraged by what Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, had said; and they finished the work according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus and Darius. 

The house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of Darius. 

The children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of those who had returned from exile celebrated the consecration of this house of God with rejoicing, 

offering on this solemnity one hundred young bulls, two hundred rams and four hundred lambs, and twelve he-goats as a sin offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 

Then they installed the priests according to their ranks, and the Levites according to their classes, for the service of the house of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.

Those who had returned from exile celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, 

for the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, and all of them were clean. So, they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all who had returned from exile, for their fellow priests, and themselves.

The Israelites who had returned from exile ate the Passover lamb with all those who had separated themselves from the people of the land and joined the returned exiles to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. 

They joyfully celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. Their happiness came from the Lord turning the king of Assyria to look favorably on them, allowing them to continue rebuilding the house of the God of Israel.