13. The house was built many years before by a great and mighty king of Israel, and it was finished.
14. But when our ancestors angrily sinned against the Lord of Israel who is in heaven, God gave them over into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, king of the Chaldeans;
15. and they tore down the house and burned it, and led the people away as prisoners to Babylon.
16. But in the first year of Cyrus’ rule over the country of Babylonia, King Cyrus wrote that this house should be rebuilt.
17. King Cyrus took out the holy gold and silver equipment from the temple in Babylon, which Nebuchadnezzar had removed from the house in Jerusalem and deposited in his own temple. Cyrus handed it over to Zerubbabel and the governor Sheshbazzar
18. with the order that they take all of this equipment back and place it in the temple in Jerusalem, and that the Lord’s temple be rebuilt on its site.
19. After coming here, Sheshbazzar laid the foundations of the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. It has been under construction until now, although it isn’t finished."
20. Now, King, if it seems right, please search the royal archives that are in Babylon.
21. If it is discovered that the building of the Lord’s house in Jerusalem was done with King Cyrus’ consent, and if it seems right to our master the king, please direct us concerning these things.
22. Then King Darius commanded a search of the royal archives that were kept in Babylon. In Ecbatana, within the palace of Medea, a scroll was found that recorded the following words:
23. In the first year of Cyrus’ rule, King Cyrus commissioned the rebuilding of the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, where they offer sacrifices with continuous fire.
24. Its height should be ninety feet and its width ninety feet, with three layers of polished stone and one layer of new native wood. The expenses should come out of the treasury of King Cyrus.
25. Also the holy silver and gold equipment from the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar removed from the house in Jerusalem and transported to Babylon, should be restored to the house in Jerusalem, to be kept where it used to be.
26. So he commanded Sisinnes the governor of Syria and Phoenicia, and Sathrabuzanes, and their associates, and those who were appointed as local officials in Syria and Phoenicia to stay away from the place and to let Zerubbabel, the Lord’s servant and Judea’s governor, and the elders of the Jews rebuild the Lord’s house on its site.
27. I hereby command that it be built completely and that close attention be paid to helping those who have returned from the exile of Judea, util the Lord’s house is finished.