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Restoration of the Temple Resumed

¹Then the prophet ⚓Haggai and ⚓Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. ²So ⚓Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and ⚓the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
³At the same time ⚓Tattenai the governor of the region beyond the River and Shethar-Boznai and their companions came to them and spoke thus to them: ⚓“Who has commanded you to build this temple and finish this wall?” ⁴⚓Then, accordingly, we told them the names of the men who were constructing this building. ⁵But ⚓the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius. Then a ⚓written answer was returned concerning this matter. ⁶This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai sent:
The governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, ⚓and his companions, the Persians who were in the region beyond the River, to Darius the king.
⁷(They sent a letter to him, in which was written thus)
To Darius the king:
All peace.
⁸Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the temple of the great God, which is being built with heavy stones, and timber is being laid in the walls; and this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.
⁹Then we asked those elders, and spoke thus to them: ⚓“Who commanded you to build this temple and to finish these walls?” ¹⁰We also asked them their names to inform you, that we might write the names of the men who were chief among them.
¹¹And thus they returned us an answer, saying: “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. ¹²But ⚓because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of ⚓Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and ⚓carried the people away to Babylon. ¹³However, in the first year of ⚓Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to build this house of God. ¹⁴Also, ⚓the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem and carried into the temple of Babylon—those King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon, and they were given to ⚓one named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. ¹⁵And he said to him, ‘Take these articles; go, carry them to the temple site that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its former site.’ ¹⁶Then the same Sheshbazzar came and⚓laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; but from that time even until now it has been under construction, and ⚓it is not finished.”
¹⁷Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, ⚓let a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, whether it is so that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send us his pleasure concerning this matter.

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¹那时，哈该先知和易多的孙子撒迦利亚，两个先知奉以色列上帝的名向犹大和耶路撒冷的犹太人说预言。 ²于是撒拉铁的儿子所罗巴伯和约萨达的儿子耶书亚起来，开始建造耶路撒冷上帝的殿，有上帝的先知在那里帮助他们。
³当时河西的达乃总督和示他．波斯乃，以及他们的同僚来对犹太人这样说：“谁降旨让你们建造这殿，完成这建筑呢？” ⁴于是我们告诉他们建造这建筑物的人叫什么名字。 ⁵但上帝的眼目看顾犹太人的长老，以致没有人叫他们停工，直到奏文上告大流士，得着他对这事的回谕。
⁶这是河西的达乃总督和示他．波斯乃，以及他们的同僚，就是住河西的官员⚓，上书奏告大流士王的抄本， ⁷他们上书给王的奏文，其中写着：“愿大流士王诸事平安。 ⁸请王知道，我们往犹大省去，到了至大上帝的殿。这殿是用凿成的石头建造的，梁木插入墙内。这项工程进行迅速，在他们手中顺利。 ⁹于是我们问那些长老，对他们这样说：‘谁降旨让你们建造这殿，完成这建筑呢？’ ¹⁰我们又问他们的名字，要记下他们领袖的名字，奏告于王。 ¹¹他们这样回答我们说：‘我们是天和地之上帝的仆人，重建多年前所建造的殿，就是以色列一位伟大的君王建造完成的。 ¹²但因我们祖先惹天上的上帝发怒，上帝把他们交在迦勒底人巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒的手中，他就拆毁这殿，又把百姓掳到巴比伦。 ¹³然而巴比伦王居鲁士元年，他降旨允准建造上帝的这殿。 ¹⁴上帝殿中的金银器皿，就是尼布甲尼撒从耶路撒冷殿中掠取带到巴比伦庙里的，居鲁士王从巴比伦庙里取出来，交给派为省长，名叫设巴萨的， ¹⁵对他说：可以将这些器皿带去，放在耶路撒冷的殿中，在原处建造上帝的殿。 ¹⁶于是那位设巴萨来建立耶路撒冷上帝殿的根基。但从那时直到如今，这殿尚未修建完毕。’ ¹⁷现在，王若以为好，请查阅巴比伦王的档案库，看居鲁士王有没有降旨允准在耶路撒冷建造上帝的殿。请降旨指示我们王对这件事的心意。”