Ezra 5

CLV^{(i) 1} Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo, prophesied to the Judeans in Judah and in Jerusalem in the name of Eloah of Israel Who was over them. ² Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the House of Eloah in Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of the One, Eloah, giving them aid. ³ At the same stated time Tattenai viceroy Beyond-the-Stream came hither to them with Shethar-Bozenai and their colleagues. This is what they were saying to them:Who promulgated a decree for you to rebuild this House and to complete this beam structure? ⁴ Then they asked them this:What are the names of the masters who are building this structure? ⁵ Yet the eye of their Eloah was over the greyhaired elders of the Judeans; so they did not make them halt while a report went to Darius; then they would reply with a dispatch about this matter. ⁶ This is a transcript of the letter that Tattenai viceroy Beyond-the-Stream, and Shethar-Bozenai and their colleagues, the officials Beyond-the-Stream, sent to king Darius. ⁷ They sent the rescript to him, and this was written within it:To king Darius:Peace at all times!" ⁸ Let it become known to the king that we departed to the province of Judah to the great House of Eloah. It is being rebuilt of dressed stone and timber placed in the sidewalls. This work is thoroughly done and prospering under their hands. ⁹ Then we asked these greyhaired elders. This is what we said to them:Who promulgated a decree for you to rebuild this House and to complete this beam structure? ¹⁰ And we also asked them their names to let you know, so that we could write down the names of the masters who were over their heads. ¹¹ This is the rescript of what they replied to us saying:We are the servants of Him Who is Eloah of the heavens and the earth. And we are rebuilding the House that had been built a huge number of years before this, when a great king of Israel built it and completed it. ¹² Only because our fathers angered Eloah of the heavens, He granted them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon; and he demolished this House and deported the people to Babylon. ¹³ But in year one of king Cyrus of Babylon, king Cyrus promulgated a decree to rebuild this House of Eloah. ¹⁴ And also the vessels of gold and silver of the House of Eloah that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had transferred them to the temple in Babylon--king Cyrus removed them from the temple in Babylon, and they were granted to Sheshbazzar; this was the name of him whom he had appointed viceroy. ¹⁵ And he said to him:Carry these vessels with you; depart and put them down in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the House of Eloah be rebuilt on its site. ¹⁶ Then this Sheshbazzar arrived and laid the foundations of the House of Eloah in Jerusalem. From then on until now it is being rebuilt; but it is not yet accomplished. ¹⁷ And now, if it seems good to the king, let a quest be made in the house of depositories of the king there in Babylon to see whether a decree was actually promulgated from king Cyrus to rebuild this House of Eloah in Jerusalem. Then let the king send his decision in this matter to us.