CHAPTER 6
1 Then king Darius commanded, and they reckoned, or sought, in the biblet of books, which books were kept in Babylon. (Then King Darius commanded, and they searched through the books in the library, or in the archives, which books were kept in Babylon.)
2 And one book was found in Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province of Media, and such a sentence of the king was written therein. (But one book was found in the city of Achmetha, in the province of Media, in the castle there, and this statement about the king was written in it;)
3 In the first year of king Cyrus, Cyrus the king deemed, or ordained, that the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, should be builded (again) in the place where they offer(ed) sacrifices, and that they set (a) foundament supporting the height of sixty cubits, and the length of sixty cubits, (In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus ordained that the House of God, which was in Jerusalem, should be rebuilt in the place where they had offered sacrifices, and that they lay a foundation to support a height of sixty cubits, and a length of sixty cubits,)
4 and set they three orders of stones unpolished, and so the orders of new wood. And costs thereto should be given of the king’s house. (and build they the walls out of three rows, or three layers, of unpolished stones, and one row, or one layer, of new timber. And let its costs, or its expenses, be paid out of the king’s treasury.)
5 But also the golden and silveren vessels of God’s temple, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple of Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon, be they yielded, and borne again into the temple of Jerusalem, and into their place, which vessels also be set in the temple of God. (And also let the gold and the silver vessels from the Temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be given back, and returned to the Temple in Jerusalem, to be put again in their proper place in the Temple of God.)
6 Now therefore Tatnai, duke of the country that is beyond the flood, and Shetharboznai, and your counsellors, (the) Apharsachites, which be beyond the flood, depart ye far (away) from them; (And so now Tatnai, the governor of the province that is west of the Euphrates River, and Shetharboznai, and your counsellors, or your officials, the Apharsachites, who also live there in the province west of the Euphrates River, should go far away from these people, that is, they should leave them alone;)
7 and suffer ye, that that temple of God be made of the duke of (the) Jews, and of the elder men of them; and that they build (again) that house of God in his place. (and allow ye, that the Temple of God be rebuilt by the leader of the Jews, and their elders; yea, that they rebuild the House of God there in its place.)
8 But also it is commanded of me, that that behooveth to be made of those priests of (the) Jews, that the house of God be builded (again); that is, that costs be given busily to those men (out) of the ark, (or the coffer), of the king, that is, of the tributes, that be given of the country beyond the flood, lest the work be hindered. (And it is also commanded by me, what behooveth to be done for those elders of the Jews, so that the House of God can be rebuilt; that is, that their costs, (or their expenses), be given to them out of the king’s treasury, that is, from the taxes paid in the province west of the Euphrates River, so that the work shall not be hindered, (or interrupted).)
9 That if it be needed, give they both calves, and lambs, and kids into burnt sacrifice to [the] God of heaven; (and also that) wheat, (and) salt, and wine, and oil, by the custom of (the) priests that be in Jerusalem, be given to them by each day, that no complaint be in anything. (And that whatever the priests who be in Jerusalem need, give it to them, yea, calves, and lambs, and goat kids for the burnt sacrifices to the God of heaven; and also wheat, and salt, and wine, and oil, yea, whatever is needed for each day, so that no complaint be made about anything.)
10 And (then) offer they offerings to [the] God of heaven; and (also) pray they for the life of the king, and of his sons.
11 Therefore this sentence is set of me, that if any man change this behest, a (piece of) wood be taken of his house, and be it raised up, and be he hanged thereon; soothly his house be forfeited. (And so this decree is given by me, that if anyone change this command, a piece of timber be taken from his house, and it be raised up, and let him be hanged upon it; and then his house be forfeited.)
12 And God, that maketh his name to dwell there, destroy all the realms and people, that hold forth their hand to impugn and destroy that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I Darius have deemed the sentence, which I will (to) be fulfilled diligently, (or I, Darius, have given this decree, which I command to be diligently fulfilled).
13 Therefore Tatnai, duke of the country beyond the flood, and Shetharboznai, and his counsellors, did execution, either fulfilled, so diligently, by that that king Darius had commanded. (And so Tatnai, the governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shetharboznai, and his counsellors, or his officials, diligently fulfilled what King Darius had commanded.)
14 Soothly the elder men of (the) Jews builded (the Temple), and had prosperity, by the prophecy of Haggai, the prophet, and (the prophecy) of Zechariah, the son of Iddo; and they builded (it), and made (it), for [the] God of Israel commanded (it), and for Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia, (also) commanded (it);
15 and they performed this house of God till to the third day of the month Adar, which is (in) the sixth year of the realm of king Darius. (and they finished this House of God on the third day of the month of Adar, or March, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.)
16 And the sons of Israel, the priests and (the) deacons, and the others of the sons of (the) transmigration, that is, of them that came from the transmigration, made the hallowing of God’s house in joy; (And the Israelites, yea, the priests, and the Levites, and the others of the sons of the captivity, dedicated the House of God with great joy;)
17 and offered, in the hallowing of God’s house, an hundred calves, two hundred wethers, four hundred lambs, (and) twelve bucks of goats for the sin of all Israel, by the number of the lineages of Israel. (and offered, for the dedication of the House of God, a hundred calves, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve goat bucks, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.)
18 And they ordained (the) priests in their orders, and deacons in their whiles (or and the Levites in their divisions), upon the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
19 And the sons of (the) transmigration made pask, in the fourteenth day of the first month. (And the sons of the captivity kept, or observed, the Passover on the fourteen day of the first month.)
20 For the priests and deacons as one man were cleansed, all they were (made) clean to offer pask to all the sons of (the) transmigration, and to their brethren (the) priests, and to themselves. (For all the priests and the Levites cleansed themselves, yea, they were all purified, and then they killed the Passover lamb for all the sons of the captivity, and for their fellow priests, and for themselves.)
21 And the sons of Israel ate, that turned again from the transmigration, and each man ate, that had separated himself from all the defouling of heathen men of the land, for to seek the Lord God of Israel. (And then the Israelites, who had returned from the captivity, and also each man who had separated himself from all the defiling of the heathen of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate the Passover.)
22 And they made the solemnity of therf loaves seven days in gladness (or And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy); for the Lord had made them glad, and had turned the heart of the king of Assur to them, (so) that he would help their hands in the work of the house of the Lord God of Israel.