The Return · c. 537–520 BC
Chapter 2
The Foundation Laid
They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, “For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel.” All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahweh’s house had been laid.
The seventh month came, and the people of Israel were living in their towns. Then they all gathered in together, as one.
son of Jozadak set to work with the other , and so did son of Shealtiel with his relatives. Together they built the of the God of Israel, so they could offer on it. They did it just as the law of , the man of God, says.
They were afraid of the peoples of the lands around them, but even so they set the altar on its base. They offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord every morning and evening.
They kept the as it is written, and each day they offered as many burnt offerings as the rules required for that day. Afterward they also offered the regular burnt offering, the offerings for each and for all the Lord’s holy feasts, and whatever anyone freely chose to give the Lord.
They had been offering burnt offerings to the Lord since the first day of the seventh month. But the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not been laid yet.
They also paid the stonemasons and the carpenters. They gave food, drink and oil to the people of and to bring trees from to the sea at . This was what king of had allowed them to do.
The work began in the second month, in the second year after they had come to God’s house in Jerusalem. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak started it, along with their brothers the priests and , and everyone who had come back from captivity to Jerusalem. They put the Levites aged twenty and over in charge of the work on the Lord’s house.
Then the Levites stood together to watch over the workmen in God’s house: Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, and the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers.
When the builders laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple, they placed the priests there in their robes, with trumpets, and the Levites of ’s family with cymbals. They were there to praise the Lord the way David king of Israel had directed.
They sang to one another as they praised and thanked the Lord:
For he is good;his loving kindness toward Israel lasts forever.
All the people raised a great shout as they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid.
But many of the priests, the Levites and the heads of families were old men who had seen the first house of God. When the foundation of this house was laid right in front of them, they wept out loud. And many shouted aloud for joy.
The people couldn’t tell the shouts of joy apart from the sound of the people weeping, because everyone was shouting at the top of their voices. The noise was heard far away.
Word reached the enemies of and that the people back from captivity were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel. Then they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of families.
“Let us build with you,” they said, “because we seek your God as you do. We have been sacrificing to him since the days of king of , who brought us up here.”
But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of Israel’s families told them, “Building a house for our God has nothing to do with you. We will build it ourselves, all together, for the Lord, the God of Israel. That is what King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us to do.”
Then the people of the land made the people of Judah lose heart, and they made trouble for the builders. They hired advisers to oppose them and spoil their plans, all through the days of Cyrus king of Persia and right up to the reign of king of Persia.
When began to reign, they wrote an accusation against the people living in Judah and Jerusalem.
In the days of , Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. They wrote the letter in Aramaic, and it was delivered in Aramaic.
the chancellor and the wrote King Artaxerxes a letter against Jerusalem. It came from the two of them and the rest of their companions: the Dinaites, the Babylonians, the Elamites and six other peoples. It came from the rest of the nations too, the ones that the great and noble had brought over and settled in the city of and in the rest of the country beyond .
Here is a copy of what they sent: “To King Artaxerxes, from your servants, the people beyond the River.
“Let the king know that the Jews who came up from you have come to us, to Jerusalem. They are building that bad, rebellious city. They have finished the walls and repaired the foundations.
“The king should know this too: if they build this city and finish its walls, they will stop paying , taxes and tolls, and in the end that will hurt the kings.
“We eat the palace’s salt; the king provides for us. It isn’t right for us to watch him be dishonored. That is why we have sent to tell the king, so that a search can be made in the records of your ancestors. There you will see that this is a rebellious city that has done harm to kings and provinces, and that people have started rebellions in it in the past. That is why this city was destroyed.
“We are telling the king: if they build this city and finish its walls, you will have nothing left beyond the River.”
The king sent back an answer to Rehum the chancellor, to Shimshai the scribe and to the rest of their companions who lived in Samaria and in the rest of the country beyond the River: “Peace.
“Your letter has been read out clearly in front of me. I ordered a search, and the search showed that this city has risen up against kings in the past, and that rebellions and revolts have broken out in it.
“There were mighty kings over Jerusalem in the past, too. They ruled all the country beyond the River, and people paid them tribute, taxes and tolls.
“Now give an order to make these men stop. This city is not to be built until I give the order myself. Be careful not to be slow about it. Why should the damage grow and harm the kings?”
As soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter had been read aloud to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe and their companions, they hurried to the Jews in Jerusalem and made them stop by force, with weapons.
Then the work on God’s house in Jerusalem stopped, and it stayed that way until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.