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[1]Then king Darius gave commandment, and they made search in the library of the treasures, which were there laid up in Babylon.
[2]And there was found in a coffer (in the palace that was in the province of the Medes) a volume, and therein was it thus written, as a memorial,
[3]In the first year of king Cyrus, king Cyrus made a decree for the house of God in Jerusalem, Let the house be built, even the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the walls thereof be joined together: let the height thereof be threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits,
[4]Three orders of great stones, and one order of timber, and let the expenses be given of the king's house.
[5]And also let them render the vessels of the house of God (of gold and silver, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon) and let him go unto the temple that is in Jerusalem to his place and put them in the house of God.
[6]Therefore Tatnai captain beyond the river, and Shethar Boznai, (and their companions Apharsecai, which are beyond the river) be ye far from thence.
[7]Suffer ye the work of this house of God, that the captain of the Jews and the elders of the Jews may build this house of God in his place.
[8]For I have given a commandment what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews, for the building of this house of God, that of the revenues of the king, which is of the tribute beyond the river, there be incontinently expenses given unto these men that they cease not.
[9]And that which they shall have need of, let it be given unto them day by day, whether it be young bullocks, or rams, or lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests that are in Jerusalem, that there be no fault,
[10]That they may have to offer sweet odors unto the God of heaven, and pray for the king's life, and for his sons.
[11]And I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this sentence, the wood shall be pulled down from his house, and shall be set up, and he shall be hanged thereon, and his house shall be made a dunghill for this.
[12]And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there, destroy all kings and people that put to their hand to alter, and to destroy this house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree, let it be done with speed.
[13]Then Tatnai the captain beyond the river, and Shethar Boznai and their companions, according to that which Darius had sent, so they did speedily.
[14]So the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered by the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, and they builded and finished it, by the appointment of the God of Israel, and by the commandment of Cyrus and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
[15]And this house was finished the third day of the month Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.
[16]And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the residue of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,
[17]And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve goats, for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
[18]And they set the priests in their order, and the Levites in their courses over the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
[19]And the children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
[20](For the priests and the Levites were purified all together) and they killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.
[21]So the children of Israel which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them, from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, did eat,
[22]And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the Lord had made them glad, and turned the heart of the king of Asshur [Assyria] unto them, to encourage them in the work of the house of God, even the God of Israel.
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