CHAPTER 5

¹And Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo the prophet prophesied concerning the Jews of Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, to them. ²Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak and the officers rose up to rebuild the house of God that was in Jerusalem, and with them the prophets of God aiding them. ³At that time Tattenai the satrap of Beyond the River and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates came down upon them, and thus did they say to them, “Who gave you authorization to rebuild this house and to finish these walls? ⁴Then thus we said to them, ‘What are the names of the men who are rebuilding this structure?’” ⁵But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could go forth to Darius, and then they would respond to this in a missive. ⁶The copy of the letter that Tattenai the satrap of Beyond the River and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates the inspectors of Beyond the River sent to King Darius. ⁷A word did they send to him, and thus it was written: “To King Darius abundant greetings. ⁸Let it be known to the king that we went to the province of Yehud to the house of the great god, and it is being rebuilt with hewn stone, and timber is being set in the walls, and this work of which we report is being done and is prospering through them. ⁹Then did we ask of these elders, as follows did we say to them: ‘Who gave you authorization to build this house and to finish these walls?’ ¹⁰And their names as well we asked of them to inform you that the names of the men who are at their head have been written down. ¹¹And this is the word they answered us, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of the heavens and the earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years long ago, and a great king of Israel built it and finished it. ¹²But because our fathers angered the God of the heavens, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylonia, and he destroyed this house, and he exiled the people to Babylonia. ¹³But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylonia, King Cyrus put out a decree to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴And also the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar had taken out from the Temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylonia, Cyrus took out from the temple in Babylonia, and they were given to one named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made satrap. ¹⁵And he said to him: “These vessels, carry, go, set them in the Temple in Jerusalem, and the house of God shall be rebuilt on its site.” ¹⁶Then this Sheshbazzar came, laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from then to now it has been rebuilt, but it is not complete.’ ¹⁷And now, if it please the king, let it be searched in the archives of the king there in Babylonia whether it be that King Cyrus put forth a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem, and let the king’s pleasure concerning this be sent to us.”