¹ Then, Darius the king, issued an edict,—and they made search in the house of the books, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

² And there was found in Achmetha, in the fortress which is in the province of Media, a roll,—and, thus, was it written therein, as a record:—

³ In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king, issued an edict, as to the house of God in Jerusalem, Let the house be built, the place where they used to offer sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be reared,—the height thereof, sixty cubits, the breadth thereof, sixty cubits;

⁴ layers of large stones, three, and one layer of new timber,—and, as for the expenses, out of the house of the king, let them be given.

⁵ Moreover also, the utensils of the house of God, of gold and silver, which, Nebuchadnezzar, took forth out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, let them again be taken to the temple which is in Jerusalem every one to its place, and lay them up in the house of God.

⁶ Now, therefore, Tattenai pasha Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, the Apharsachites, who are Beyond the River,—be ye far from thence:

⁷ let alone the work of this house of God,—the pasha of Judah, and the elders of Judah, this house of God, shall build upon its place;

⁸ And, from me, is issued an edict, as to that which ye shall do, with these elders of Judah, for the building of this house of God,—That, of the resources of the king, even the tribute Beyond the River, forthwith, the expenses be given unto these men, for they must not be hindered.

⁹ And, whatever may be the need—whether young bullocks or rams or lambs for ascending-sacrifices unto the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine or oil, according to the command of the priests who are in Jerusalem,—that it he given to them day by day, without fail;

¹⁰ that they may be offering sweet-smelling sacrifices unto the God of the heavens,—and be praying for the life of the king, and his sons.

¹¹ And, from me, is issued an edict, that, any man who shall alter this message, let timber be torn out of his house, and being lifted up let him be fastened thereunto,—and his house, a dunghill, be made for this;

¹² and, the God who hath caused his Name to dwell there, destroy any king or people, who shall put forth their hand to alter to destroy this house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued an edict, forthwith, let it be done.

¹³ Then, Tattenai the pasha Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates,—according as Darius the king had sent, so, forthwith, they did.

¹⁴ And, the elders of the Jews, went on building and prospering, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah son of Iddo,—they both built and finished, owing to the edict of the God of Israel, and owing to the edict of Cyrus and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵ And this house was finished, by the third day of the month Adar,—the which was the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶ Then did the sons of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the Sons of the Exile, keep the dedication of this house of God, with joy;

¹⁷ and offered, for the dedication of this house of God, bullocks, one hundred, rams, two hundred, lambs, four hundred,—and, he-goats, as a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁸ And they set up the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, over the service of God, which was in Jerusalem,—as it is written, in the Book of Moses.

¹⁹ And the Sons of the Exile kept the passover,—on the fourteenth of the first month;

²⁰ for the priests and the Levites, had purified themselves, as one man, all of them, were pure,—so they slaughtered the passover for all the Sons of the Exile, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

²¹ Therefore the sons of Israel who had returned from the Exile and all who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land unto them, did eat,—to seek Yahweh, God of Israel;

²² and kept the festival of unleavened cakes seven days, with joy,—for Yahweh had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria towards them, to strengthen their hands, in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.