The Second Temple Is Completed

In the days of King Darius, God's word came through Haggai to Zerubbabel and to Joshua the high priest. The people had said it was not yet time to rebuild the Lord's house, while they looked after their own homes. Haggai told them to consider their ways, obey God, and begin the work. The remnant of the people listened, feared the Lord, and God stirred them up to work.

Then Haggai and Zechariah prophesied in the name of the God of Israel to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. Zerubbabel and Jeshua rose up and began to build God's house, and the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

As the building continued, Tattenai the governor, Shetharbozenai, and their companions came and asked who had authorised the work and what the leaders' names were. But the eye of God was on the elders of the Jews, so the work was not stopped while a letter was sent to Darius.

The letter reported that the house of the great God was being built with great stones and timber in the walls, and that the work was moving ahead diligently. The elders explained that their fathers had angered the God of heaven, so the first house had been destroyed and the people taken to Babylon. They also said Cyrus had ordered this house to be rebuilt and the gold and silver vessels returned. So Darius ordered the records to be searched.

A scroll was found with Cyrus's decree. It said the temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt, its foundations strongly laid, its costs paid from the king's house, and its vessels restored. Darius then commanded Tattenai and his companions to stay away from the site, to fund the work from the tribute beyond the River, and to provide what was needed for offerings, so the builders would not be hindered.

So the elders kept building and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah. The house was finished in the sixth year of Darius. The people dedicated it with joy, offered sacrifices, and set the priests and Levites in their appointed service.

Then the returned exiles kept the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, together with those who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the God of Israel. God had made them joyful and strengthened their hands in the work of his house.