8. “The king should know that we went to the construction site of the Temple of the great God in the province of Judah. It is being rebuilt with specially prepared stones, and timber is being laid in its walls. The work is going forward with great energy and success.
9. “We asked the leaders, ‘Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and restore this structure?’
10. And we demanded their names so that we could tell you who the leaders were.
11. “This was their answer: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple that was built here many years ago by a great king of Israel.
12. But because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he abandoned them to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who destroyed this Temple and exiled the people to Babylonia.
13. However, King Cyrus of Babylon, during the first year of his reign, issued a decree that the Temple of God should be rebuilt.