THE
BOOK OF EZRA
Ezra Chapter 5
1
¶ Then the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the grandson of Iddo,
prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of
the God of Israel, whose Spirit was upon them.
2
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel,
and Jeshua the son of Jozadak,
rose up and began to build the house of God which is at
3
¶ At that time Tatnai, the
governor on this side the
4
They also asked, What are the names of the men who are
building this structure?
5
But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they could not
make them stop, until the matter came to Darius: and he sent back an answer by
return letter regarding this matter.
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This is a copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on
this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and his
companions the Apharsachites, who were on this
side the river, sent to Darius the king:
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The letter they sent to him, had this written in it; To Darius the king, peace
in every way.
8
Be it known to the king, that we went into the
9
Then we asked those elders, Who authorized you to
build this house, and to restore these walls?
10
We also asked their names, so that we might record the names of their leaders
and notify you.
11
And they replied, saying, We are the servants of the
God of heaven and earth, and rebuild the temple that was built many years ago,
which a great king of
12
But after our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he delivered
them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of
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But in the first year of Cyrus the king of
14
Cyrus also removed from the
15
And said to him, Take these vessels, go, take them to the temple that is
in
16
Then this Sheshbazzar, came and laid the
foundation for the house of God that is in Jerusalem: and from that time
until now it has been under construction, and yet it is not finished.
17
So now, if it seems good to the king, let a search be made in the royal
archives, that are at Babylon, to see if it is true, that king Cyrus
issued a decree to build this temple of God at
Jerusalem, and let the king send us his decision concerning this matter.