The Return · 520–515 BC
Chapter 5
The Temple Finished
Yahweh of Armies says: “Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand because of their old age.The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.”
For parents
King Darius’s decree says that anyone who changes it is to be lifted up and fastened to a beam from his own house, to die there (Ezra 6:11); it is told plainly, without detail. The chapter also recalls how Nebuchadnezzar destroyed God’s house and carried the people away (Ezra 5:12), and how the Lord scattered the people among the nations (Zechariah 7:14).
God’s house in was being built again. The and son of Iddo had prophesied to the Jews in and Jerusalem. They spoke to them in the name of the God of Israel. son of Shealtiel and son of Jozadak had set to work building it, and God’s prophets were there with them, helping.
At that same time , the governor of the lands beyond , came to them with and their companions. “On whose orders are you building this house and finishing this wall?” they asked. They also asked for the names of the men who were putting up the building.
But their God kept watch over the of the Jews. Tattenai and the others did not make them stop while the matter went to and his answer came back in a letter.
Tattenai the governor, Shetharbozenai, and their companions the , who were beyond the River, sent a letter to King Darius. Here is a copy of what they wrote: “To King Darius: peace in every way.
“We want the king to know that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. They are building it of huge stones and setting timber in the walls. They are working hard at it, and it is going well for them.
“We asked their elders, ‘On whose orders are you building this house and finishing this wall?’ We also asked their names, so that we could write down for you the names of the men who lead them.
“They answered us like this: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the house that was built long ago. A great king of Israel built it and finished it.
“‘But our ancestors made the God of heaven very angry, so he handed them over to king of , the . Nebuchadnezzar destroyed this house and carried the people away to Babylon.
“‘But in the first year of king of Babylon, Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. Nebuchadnezzar had taken the gold and silver vessels of God’s house from the temple in Jerusalem and carried them into the temple of Babylon. King Cyrus took them back out of the temple of Babylon and handed them over to a man called , whom he had made governor. Cyrus told him to take the vessels and go, to put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and to let God’s house be built again where it stood.
“‘So that same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of God’s house in Jerusalem. The building has gone on ever since, and it still isn’t finished.’
“So now, if it seems good to the king, let a search be made in the king’s treasure house there in Babylon, to see whether King Cyrus really did make a decree to build this house of God in Jerusalem. And may the king send us word of what he wants done about this.”
Then King Darius issued a decree, and a search was made in the house of records in Babylon, where the treasures were stored. A scroll was found at , in the palace in the province of , and this was the record written in it:
“In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus made a decree about God’s house in Jerusalem: Let the house be built as the place where sacrifices are offered, and let its foundations be laid strong. It is to stand sixty high and sixty cubits wide, about ninety feet each way. It is to have three layers of huge stones and one layer of new timber. Let the costs be paid from the king’s own treasury.
“Also, Nebuchadnezzar took the gold and silver vessels of God’s house out of the temple at Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon. Let them be returned and taken back to the temple in Jerusalem, each one to its place. You are to put them in God’s house.”
King Darius sent back this decree: “Now, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites who are beyond the River, keep well away from there. Leave the work of this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God where it stood.
“I also make a decree about what you must do for these elders of the Jews as they build this house of God. Their costs are to be paid out of the king’s own wealth, from the taxes of the lands beyond the River. Be sure to pay these men, so that nothing holds them up.
“They are to be given whatever they need, as the in Jerusalem ask: young bulls, rams and lambs for to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine and oil. Give it to them day by day without fail. Then they can offer sacrifices with a smell that pleases the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.
“I also decree that if anyone changes this message, a beam is to be pulled out of his house, and he is to be lifted up and fastened to it, to die there. And his house is to be made a dung heap because of it.
“May the God who has put his name there bring down any king or people who try to change this and destroy this house of God at Jerusalem. I, Darius, have made this decree. Let it be carried out with care.”
Because King Darius had sent this decree, Tattenai the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai and their companions did just as it said, and they did it with care.
The elders of the Jews kept building, and the work went well for them, helped along by the prophesying of the prophet Haggai and of Zechariah son of Iddo.
In the fourth year of King Darius, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah on the fourth day of , the ninth month. The people of sent and and their men to ask for the Lord’s favor. They were also to put a question to the priests of the house of the Lord of Armies and to the prophets: “Should I go on weeping in the fifth month, keeping myself apart, as I have done all these years?”
Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to Zechariah:
“Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests.Say to them, ‘When you and mournedin the fifth and in the seventh monthfor these seventy years,did you fast for me at all?Was it really for me?And when you eat and when you drink,don’t you eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?Aren’t these the words the Lord called outthrough the prophets who came before,when Jerusalem was full of people and doing well,with its towns around it,and people lived in and the lowland?’”
The Lord’s word came to Zechariah again:
“This is what the Lord of Armies has said:‘Judge with true justice.Show kindness and compassion,each of you to your brother.Don’t oppress the widow, the fatherless,the foreigner, or the poor.And none of you should plan harm in your heartagainst your brother.’”
The word went on:
“But they refused to listen.They turned their backs and plugged their ears so they would not hear.They made their hearts as hard as flint,so that they would not hear the lawor the words the Lord of Armies sent by his Spiritthrough the prophets who came before.So the Lord of Armies was very angry.Just as he called and they would not listen,so they will call, and I will not listen,” says the Lord of Armies.“I will scatter them with a whirlwindamong all the nations they have not known.So the land was left empty behind them,and no one passed through it or came back,because they made the pleasant land a wasteland.”
Then the word of the Lord of Armies came again. The Lord of Armies says:
“I am jealous for with great jealousy.I am jealous for her with great fury.”“I have come back to Zion,” says the Lord,“and I will live in the middle of Jerusalem.Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth,and the mountain of the Lord of Armies, the Holy Mountain.”
And the Lord of Armies says:
“Old men and old women will live in the streets of Jerusalem again,each one with a staff in hand because they are so old.And the streets of the city will be fullof boys and girls playing there.”
The Lord of Armies says:
“Look, I will save my peoplefrom the lands of the east and the lands of the west.I will bring them, and they will live within Jerusalem.They will be my people, and I will be their God,in truth and in righteousness.”
The Lord of Armies says:
“Let your hands be strong,you who are hearing these words in these days.They come from the mouths of the prophetswho were there on the daythe foundation of the house of the Lord of Armies was laid,so that the temple could be built.The seed of peace and the vine will bear fruit,the ground will give its crops,and the skies will give their dew.I will give the few who are left of this peopleall these things as their own.People of Judah and people of Israel,just as you were a curse among the nations,so I will rescue you, and you will become a blessing.Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.”
The Lord of Armies says:
“Just as I planned to bring harm on youwhen your ancestors made me angry,” says the Lord of Armies,“and I did not change my mind,so in these days I have planned againto do good to Jerusalem and to the people of Judah.Don’t be afraid.These are the things that you must do:Each of you, speak the truth to your neighbor.In your city gates, where cases are judged,judge with truth and peace.None of you should plan harm in your hearts against your neighbor,and don’t love a false oath,because all these are things I hate,” says the Lord.
The word of the Lord of Armies came once more. The Lord of Armies says:
“The fasts of the fourth month and the fifth,of the seventh and the tenth,will become joy and gladnessand happy feasts for the people of Judah.So you must love truth and peace.”
And the Lord of Armies says:
“Many peoples will still come,and people from many cities.People from one city will go to the next and say,‘Let’s go at once to ask the Lord for his favorand to seek the Lord of Armies. I’m going too.’Yes, many peoples and strong nations will cometo seek the Lord of Armies in Jerusalemand to ask the Lord for his favor.”“In those days,” says the Lord of Armies,“ten men from nations of every languagewill take hold of the edge of a Jew’s robe and say,‘We will go with you. We have heard that God is with you.’”
The elders of the Jews built God’s house and finished it, as the God of Israel had commanded, and as Cyrus, Darius, and king of had decreed. This house was finished on the third day of the month , in King Darius’s sixth year.
All the people of Israel joyfully celebrated the of this house of God: the priests, the , and everyone else who had come back from captivity.
At the dedication they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams and four hundred lambs. They also offered twelve male goats, one for every of Israel, as a for all Israel.
They set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in groups that took turns, for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of .
On the fourteenth day of the first month, those who had come back from captivity celebrated the .
The priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, and every one of them was pure. They killed the Passover lambs for all who had come back from captivity, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.
The people of Israel who had come back from captivity ate the Passover meal. Everyone who had left the unclean ways of the nations of the land and joined them to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ate it with them.
For seven days they celebrated the Feast of with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful. He had turned the heart of the king of toward them, so that the king helped them in the work on God’s house, the house of the God of Israel.