1 So King Darius gave an order to search the writings of the Kings before him. The writings were kept in Babylon in the same place the money and treasures were kept. 2 And a scroll was indeed found in the Palace of Ecbatana (in the province of Media) written by Cyrus the King. This is what was written on that scroll: 3 During the first year that Cyrus was King, he gave an order about the Temple of YAHUAH in Jerusalem. The order said: "Let the Temple of YAHUAH be built again. It will be a place to offer sacrifices. Let its foundations be built. The Temple must be 60 cubits [31m] high and 60 cubits [31m] wide. 4 Its wall will be in layers that have three rows of large marble stones and one row of wooden timbers. The cost of building the Temple must be paid for from the King’s treasury. 5 Also, the gold and silver things from YAHUAH’S Temple must be put back in their places. Nebuchadnezzar took them from the Temple in Jerusalem at its destruction and brought them to Babylon. And they must be put back in YAHUAH’S Temple".
6 So King Darius sent this message to his officials: "To Tattenai, Governor of the area west of the Euphrates River, to Shethar Bozenai, and to all the officials living in that province. I order you to stay away from Jerusalem. 7 Don’t bother the workers. Don’t try to stop the work on this Temple of YAHUAH. Let the Jewish Governor and the Jewish leaders build it again in the same place it was in the past. EVERYTHING THAT ZERUBBABEL CLAIMED TO TATTENAI HAS BEEN PROVEN TO BE ACCURATE. THEREFORE KING DARIUS INSTRUCTS TATNAI THAT THE GOVERNOR AND HIS OFFICIALS ARE TO STAY AWAY FROM THE WORK SITE, AND LEAVE THE JEWS IN PEACE TO BUILD THEIR TEMPLE. NO INTERFERENCE WILL BE TOLERATED.
8 Now I give this order. You must do this for the Jewish Leaders building YAHUAH’S Temple: The cost of the building must be fully paid from the King’s treasury. The money will come from the taxes collected from the provinces in the area west of the Euphrates River. Do these things quickly, so the work will not stop. 9 Give them anything they need. If they need young bulls, rams, or male lambs for sacrifices to the Alahim of Heaven, give these things to them. If the Priests of Jerusalem ask for wheat, salt, wine and oil, then give these things to them every day without fail. 10 Give them to the Jewish Priests so that they may offer sacrifices that please the Alahim of Heaven. Give these things so that the Priests may pray for me and my sons.
11 Also, I give this order: If anyone changes this order, a wooden beam must be pulled from their house and they must be impaled on the timber. Then their house must be destroyed until it’s only a pile of rocks. 12 YAHUAH rested His Name there in Jerusalem. So may YAHUAH defeat any King or other person who tries to change this order. If anyone tries to destroy this Temple in Jerusalem, may YAHUAH destroy that person. I, Darius, have ordered it, and this order must be obeyed quickly and completely.
13 So Tattenai the Governor of the area west of the Euphrates River, Shethar Bozenai, and the men with them, obeyed King Darius’ order quickly. 14 So the Jewish leaders continued to build with great success, encouraged by the words of prophesy from Haggai the prophet and Zechariah (son of Iddo). They finished building the Temple as the Alahim of Israel had commanded and as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the Kings of Persia, had ordered. 15 The Temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar [FEB–MARCH]. That was in the sixth year of the rule of King Darius. [AROUND 515 B.C]
IN BUT THE BRIEFEST OF STATEMENTS THE EDITOR OF EZRA SAYS THAT ONCE THEY BEGAN THEIR WORK AGAIN, THE JEWS PROCEEDED STEADILY AND DIDN’T STOP UNTIL THE TEMPLE WAS COMPLETED.
16 Then the Israelites celebrated the dedication of YAHUAH’S Temple with much joy and happiness. The Priests, the Levites, and all the other people who came back from captivity joined in the celebration. 17 This is the way they dedicated YAHUAH’S Temple: They offered 100 bulls, 200 rams and 400 male lambs. And they offered twelve male goats for all Israel for a sin (PURIFYING) offering (one goat for each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel). 18 Then they chose the Priests in their groups and the Levites in their groups to serve in YAHUAH’S Temple in Jerusalem, just as it is written in the Book of Moses.
19 On the 14th day of the first month [MAR–APRIL, 515 B.C] the Jews who came back from captivity celebrated the Passover. 20 The Priests and Levites made themselves pure again, making themselves clean and ready to celebrate the Passover. The Levites killed the Passover lamb for all the Jews who came back from captivity. They did that for their brothers the Priests, and for themselves too. 21 So all the Israelites who came back from captivity ate the Passover meal. Other people washed themselves and made themselves pure from the unclean things of the nations (gentiles) living in that country. Then these pure people also shared in the Passover meal. They did this so that they could seek YAHUAH, the Alahim of Israel, for help and deliverance.
22 They celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread with much joy for seven days. And YAHUAH made them very happy because He had changed the attitude of the King of Assyria (DARIUS), who had helped them do the work on YAHUAH’S Temple. FOR THE JEWS OF ANCIENT TIMES, IT WAS FROM THE OPPRESSION OF BEING SLAVES IN EGYPT (AND LATELY CAPTIVES OF BABYLON). BUT FOR THE MODERN BRIDE OF YAHUSHA, WE SHOULD CELEBRATE THESE SAME FEASTS AND DO THEM WITH JOY BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN DELIVERED FROM BEING SLAVES TO SIN AND OPPRESSED BY SATAN AND HIS DEMONS, INTO ETERNAL FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM. THERE SHOULD BE JOY IN YAHUSHA'S TEMPLE, WHICH ONLY HAPPENS BY BEING SET-APART AND CLEANSED FROM THE WORLD!
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