²⁴ Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem was discontinued, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Darius Finds Cyrus’ Decree

6 Then King Darius issued a decree, and a ^(A)search was conducted in the ^[a]archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. ² And in ^[b]Ecbatana, in the fortress which is ^(B)in the province of Media, a scroll was found; and the following was written in it: “Memorandum— ^3 (C)In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let the ^[c]temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt, and let ^[d]its foundations be repaired, its height being ^[e]sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, ^4 (D)with three layers of large stones and ^[f]one layer of timber. And the cost is to be paid from the ^[g]royal treasury. ⁵ Also ^(E)the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned and ^[h]brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’

⁶ “Now as for you, ^(F)Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and ^[i]your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, ^[j]stay away from there. ⁷ Leave that work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild that house of God on its site. ⁸ Furthermore, ^(G)I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of that house of God: the full cost is to be paid to those people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and that without interruption. ⁹ And whatever is needed, bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem order, it is to be given to them daily without fail, ¹⁰ so that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and ^(H)pray for the lives of the king and his sons. ¹¹ And I issued a decree that ^(I)any person who violates this decree, a timber shall be pulled out of his house and he shall be impaled on it; and ^(J)his house shall be turned into a refuse heap on account of this. ¹² May the God who ^(K)has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who ^[k]attempts to ^[l]change it, so as to destroy that house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; it is to be carried out with all diligence!”

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

¹³ Then ^(L)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had ^[m]ordered. ¹⁴ And ^(M)the elders of the Jews ^[n]were successful in building through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And ^[o]they finished building following the command of the God of Israel and the decree ^(N)of Cyrus, ^(O)Darius, and ^(P)Artaxerxes king of Persia. ¹⁵ Now this ^[p]temple was completed ^[q]on the third day of the ^(Q)month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

2 And it came about in the month Nisan, ^(A)in the twentieth year of King ^(B)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and ^(C)I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? ^(D)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ And I said to the king, “^(E)May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad ^(F)when the city, the ^[a]site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “^[b]What would you request?” ^(G)So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and ^(H)I gave him a definite time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me ^(I)for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s ^(J)forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(K)the citadel which is by the ^[c]temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because ^(L)the good hand of my God was on me.

Builders of the Walls

3 Then ^(A)Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built ^(B)the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and ^(C)installed its doors. They consecrated ^[a]the wall to ^(D)the Tower of the Hundred and ^(E)the Tower of Hananel.