Work on the Temple Starts Again

^24 (A) The Jews were forced to stop work on the temple and were not able to do any more building until the year after Darius became king of Persia.^[a] 5 ^1 (B) Then the Lord God of Israel told the prophets Haggai and Zechariah^[b] to speak in his name to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And they did.

^14 (A) With great success the Jewish leaders continued working on the temple, while Haggai and Zechariah encouraged them by their preaching. And so, the temple was completed at the command of the God of Israel and by the orders of kings Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes of Persia.^[a]