Ezra 5

VIN^{(i) 1} And the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. ² Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, went to work building the house of God at Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, helping them. ³ At that time Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-boznai, and their associates, came to them, and said this to them: Who has commanded you to build this house and to complete this structure? ⁴ They also asked for the names of the men were who were making this building. ⁵ And the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report came to Darius, and then answer was received. 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 The letter sent to him was written like this: To: King Darius: Greetings! ⁸ May it be known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, the house of the great God. It is being built with stone blocks and timber is being put in the walls. This work is being done with diligence and is making progress in their hands. ⁹ We asked the elders, "Who authorized you to build this temple and to reinforce these walls?" ¹⁰ We also asked them their names so that we could certify the identities of their leaders to you. ¹¹ And this is the answer they returned to us: 'We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building the house that was built formerly many years ago, which a great king of Israel had built and finished. 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 However, in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, king Cyrus gave an order to build this house of God. ¹⁴ Also, the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took away from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylonia, King Cyrus removed them from the temple in Babylonia and they were given to Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor. ¹⁵ And he said to him, Take these vessels and go. Deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built on its place. ¹⁶ Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem. And from that time until now it is being built, but not yet finished.' ¹⁷ And now, if it seems good for the king, let it be investigated in the house of the treasury of the king in Babylonia to see if a decree was issued forth from King Cyrus to build this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send to us his desire on this matter."