“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Rehum holder of judicial authority, and Shimshai the scribe, wrote a certain letter against Jerusalem, - to Artaxerxes the king, thus:

And the rest of the nations that the great and honored Asnapper carried into exile, and he caused them to dwell in the cities of Shomeron, and the rest beyond the river, and thus.

This the copy of the epistle that they sent to him to Arthasatha the king; thy servants the men beyond the river, and thus.

Beware, then, of failure to do thus, - wherefore should the damage increase, to inflict loss on the kings?

At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them thus, “Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?”

Then thus said we to them, What are they the names of the men that build this building?

They sent a report to him in which it was written thus: “To Darius the king, all peace.

Then we asked those elders and said to them thus, ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’

Thus they answered us, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

And there was found at Achmetha in the fortress that is in the province of Media a roll, and therein was a record thus written:

Then Tatnai, prefect beyond the river Shethar-Boznai, and three colleagues, because of that Darius the king sent, thus they did speedily.

Arthasatha, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of the heavens, being perfected, and thus.

and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty princes. Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the Lord my God upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

Thus I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 gold talents,

Thus we came to Jerusalem and remained there three days.

"But now briefly we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude.

Then responded all the convocation and said, with a loud voice, - Thus, according to thy word concerning us, must it be done.

But the Sons of the Exile, did thus, and Ezra the priest separated to himself certain men - ancestral heads by their ancestral houses, and all of them by name, - and they took their seats on the first day of the tenth month to search into the matter;