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the prophets Hagga and Zechariah son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 So Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work and began rebuilding the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
3 At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and asked, “Who has authorized you to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” 4 They also asked them, “What are the names of the men constructing this building?” 5 But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they could not be stopped until a report could be sent to Darius and his written reply received in reply to this.
6 This is the copy of the letter that was sent to King Darius by Tattenai, the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues, the officials in the region west of the Euphrates River. 7 They sent a report to him, written as follows:
To Darius the king:
Cordial greetings.
8 Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, and its beams are being set in the walls. This work is being done diligently and is prospering in their hands. 9 So we questioned the elders and asked them, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”
10 We also questioned the elders and asked them their names, so we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.
11 This is the answer they gave us:
“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed. 12 But because our fathers angered the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.
13 “However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14 He even removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and taken to Babylon.
These King Cyrus gave to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. 15 He told him, ‘Take these articles, and go and put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site’. 16 So this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem. Since that time until now it has been under construction, and it is not yet finished.”
17 So if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to determine whether or not a decree was made by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision concerning this matter.