Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



Then King Darius issued an order to search the Hall of Records where the Babylonian archives were stored. The following was found written on a scroll in Ecbatana at the summer palace of the province of Media: DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem read more.
Let the Temple be rebuilt where they offered sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be laid with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 60 cubits, constructed with three layers of foundation stone interlaced with a row of new timber, the expenses for which are to be paid from the king's treasury. Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God. To: Tattenai, Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues living beyond the Euphrates River. Stay away from there! Leave the work on this Temple of God alone! Let the Jewish governor and the Jewish leaders build this Temple of God on its site. Furthermore, I hereby decree what you are to do for the Jewish leaders who are building this Temple of God: you are to pay the expenses of these men out of the king's assets from taxes collected beyond the River so that they are not hindered. And be sure that you don't fail to provide their daily needs including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the priests in Jerusalem tell you so they may approach the God of Heaven with fragrant sacrifices and pray for the life of this king and his sons. I hereby also decree that whoever shall alter the wording of this edict, let his residence be torn down for timber to build a gallows, hang him on it, and turn his home into an outhouse. And may the God who causes his Name to rest there destroy any king or people who might attempt to destroy this Temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out quickly. Because of what King Darius had mandated, Tattenai, the Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out his orders quickly. And so the Jewish leaders continued their building, and prospered because of the prophecies of Haggai the prophet and Iddo's son Zechariah. They completed the rebuilding in accordance with the commandment from the God of Israel and the edicts of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.


Then King Darius issued an order to search the Hall of Records where the Babylonian archives were stored. The following was found written on a scroll in Ecbatana at the summer palace of the province of Media: DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem read more.
Let the Temple be rebuilt where they offered sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be laid with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 60 cubits, constructed with three layers of foundation stone interlaced with a row of new timber, the expenses for which are to be paid from the king's treasury. Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God. To: Tattenai, Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues living beyond the Euphrates River. Stay away from there! Leave the work on this Temple of God alone! Let the Jewish governor and the Jewish leaders build this Temple of God on its site. Furthermore, I hereby decree what you are to do for the Jewish leaders who are building this Temple of God: you are to pay the expenses of these men out of the king's assets from taxes collected beyond the River so that they are not hindered. And be sure that you don't fail to provide their daily needs including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the priests in Jerusalem tell you so they may approach the God of Heaven with fragrant sacrifices and pray for the life of this king and his sons. I hereby also decree that whoever shall alter the wording of this edict, let his residence be torn down for timber to build a gallows, hang him on it, and turn his home into an outhouse. And may the God who causes his Name to rest there destroy any king or people who might attempt to destroy this Temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out quickly. Because of what King Darius had mandated, Tattenai, the Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out his orders quickly. And so the Jewish leaders continued their building, and prospered because of the prophecies of Haggai the prophet and Iddo's son Zechariah. They completed the rebuilding in accordance with the commandment from the God of Israel and the edicts of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.


AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, who among the LORD's people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem of Judah to rebuild the Temple of the LORD God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem. Furthermore, everyone who wishes to repatriate from any territory where he now resides is to receive assistance from his fellow residents in the form of silver, gold, equipment, and pack animals, in addition to voluntary offerings for the Temple of the God of Jerusalem.

Then King Darius issued an order to search the Hall of Records where the Babylonian archives were stored. The following was found written on a scroll in Ecbatana at the summer palace of the province of Media: DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem read more.
Let the Temple be rebuilt where they offered sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be laid with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 60 cubits, constructed with three layers of foundation stone interlaced with a row of new timber, the expenses for which are to be paid from the king's treasury. Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God. To: Tattenai, Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues living beyond the Euphrates River. Stay away from there! Leave the work on this Temple of God alone! Let the Jewish governor and the Jewish leaders build this Temple of God on its site. Furthermore, I hereby decree what you are to do for the Jewish leaders who are building this Temple of God: you are to pay the expenses of these men out of the king's assets from taxes collected beyond the River so that they are not hindered. And be sure that you don't fail to provide their daily needs including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the priests in Jerusalem tell you so they may approach the God of Heaven with fragrant sacrifices and pray for the life of this king and his sons. I hereby also decree that whoever shall alter the wording of this edict, let his residence be torn down for timber to build a gallows, hang him on it, and turn his home into an outhouse. And may the God who causes his Name to rest there destroy any king or people who might attempt to destroy this Temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out quickly.


Then King Darius issued an order to search the Hall of Records where the Babylonian archives were stored. The following was found written on a scroll in Ecbatana at the summer palace of the province of Media: DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem read more.
Let the Temple be rebuilt where they offered sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be laid with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 60 cubits, constructed with three layers of foundation stone interlaced with a row of new timber, the expenses for which are to be paid from the king's treasury. Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God. To: Tattenai, Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues living beyond the Euphrates River. Stay away from there! Leave the work on this Temple of God alone! Let the Jewish governor and the Jewish leaders build this Temple of God on its site. Furthermore, I hereby decree what you are to do for the Jewish leaders who are building this Temple of God: you are to pay the expenses of these men out of the king's assets from taxes collected beyond the River so that they are not hindered. And be sure that you don't fail to provide their daily needs including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the priests in Jerusalem tell you so they may approach the God of Heaven with fragrant sacrifices and pray for the life of this king and his sons. I hereby also decree that whoever shall alter the wording of this edict, let his residence be torn down for timber to build a gallows, hang him on it, and turn his home into an outhouse. And may the God who causes his Name to rest there destroy any king or people who might attempt to destroy this Temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out quickly.


Everyone kept on bringing gifts on an annual basis, including items made of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules.

This was what was presented at the dedication of the altar from the leaders of Israel on the same day that it was anointed: twelve silver bowls, twelve silver basins, twelve gold ladles.

So all of their neighbors equipped the travelers with silver, gold, equipment, pack animals, and valuable goods, in addition to voluntary offerings.

Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so the king, his officials, his wives, and his mistresses could drink from them.

Then place my cup the silver one in the top of the sack belonging to the youngest one, along with the money he brought to buy grain." So the manager did precisely what Joseph told him to do.

Tou sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory over Hadadezer, because he had been at war with Tou. Joram brought articles of silver, gold, and bronze with him,

he sent his son Hadoram to King David to meet and congratulate him, because he had fought against and defeated Hadadezer. Since Hadadezer had often been to war against Tou, he sent all sorts of gold, silver, and bronze goods

Everyone kept on bringing gifts on an annual basis, including items made of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules.

He delivered into the care of Sheshbazzar (whom he appointed governor) the gold and silver utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem Temple and brought into the Babylonian temple.

But no provision was included for the LORD's Temple from the money that was brought into the LORD's Temple for silver basins, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels made of gold or silver,

He'll also take their gods, their molten images, and their valuable vessels of silver and gold into Egypt as hostages. He'll avoid the northern king for a number of years.

Each bowl weighed 130 silver shekels and each basin weighed 70 shekels. All the silver vessels weighed a total of 2,400 shekels, calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

When they had completed the work, they brought what was left of the money to the king and to Jehoiada, and it was used to cast utensils for the LORD's Temple that were to be utilized for daily service and for burnt offerings, for incense vessels, and for both gold and silver vessels. Burnt offerings were offered on a regular basis in the LORD's Temple throughout Jehoiada's lifetime.

Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God.

I divided among them 650 silver talents, silver utensils weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,


Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so the king, his officials, his wives, and his mistresses could drink from them.

David also transferred to him by weight the gold that was to be used to craft the service utensils, the silver that was to be used to craft the service utensils,

To the extent that I have been able to do so, I have provided supplies for the Temple of my God, including gold for what is to be made of gold, silver for what is to be made of silver, bronze for what is to be made of bronze, iron for what is to be made of iron, wood for what is to be made of wood, and great quantities of onyx, precious stones, antimony, colored stones, all types of other semi-precious stones, and plenty of marble. "In addition to everything that I have supplied for the Temple, it pleases me to provide my own treasure of gold and silver, so because of my love for the Temple of my God I hereby give to the Temple of my God the following: 3,000 gold talents imported from Ophir, 7,000 talents of refined silver for gilding the walls of the Temple read more.
and for all the work to be undertaken by skilled artists, gold for what is to be made of gold, and silver for what is to be made of silver. Who then, will be dedicating the productivity of his own work to the LORD today?"

He delivered into the care of Sheshbazzar (whom he appointed governor) the gold and silver utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem Temple and brought into the Babylonian temple.

Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God.

I divided among them 650 silver talents, silver utensils weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,


Tou sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory over Hadadezer, because he had been at war with Tou. Joram brought articles of silver, gold, and bronze with him,

Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God.


who says about Cyrus, "He's my shepherd, and he'll carry out everything that I please: He'll say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt,' and of my Temple, "Let its foundations be laid again.'"'"

Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor contributed 1,000 gold drachmas to the treasury, along with 50 basins, and 530 priestly garments. Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury 20,000 gold drachmas and 2,200 silver units for the work. The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold drachmas, 2,000 silver units, and 67 priestly garments.

When they arrived at the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families contributed toward building the Temple of God on its former site. They contributed to the treasury for this work in accordance with their ability: 61,000 golden drachma, 5,000 units of silver, and 100 priestly robes.

Then Jozadak's son Jeshua and his brothers got up, along with Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel and his brothers. They built an altar of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt offerings, as prescribed by the Law of Moses, the man of God. Even though they feared the people in neighboring regions, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before. They offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD burnt offerings both in the morning and in the evening. They also observed the Festival of Tents as has been prescribed, offering a specific number of daily burnt offerings in accordance with the ordinance of each day. read more.
After that, they offered all of the continual burnt offerings and the New Moon sacrifices for all of the designated festivals of the LORD that were being consecrated, along with all the voluntary offerings that were dedicated to the LORD. They began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD from the first day of the seventh month, even though the foundation of the Temple of the LORD had not yet been laid. They paid masons and carpenters in cash. They paid the residents of Sidon and Tyre with food, drink, and oil, for them to bring cedar trees by sea from Lebanon to Joppa in accordance with the order they had obtained from Cyrus, king of Persia. Two years and two months after arriving at the site of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, Jozadak's son Jeshua, the relatives of the priests and descendants of Levi, and everyone else who had left the Babylonian captivity for Jerusalem appointed descendants of Levi who were 20 years old and older to oversee the work of the LORD's Temple. At this time Jeshua, along with his children and relatives, and Kadmiel, with his children and the descendants of Judah, joined the family of Henadad with his children and relatives, and the descendants of Levi in overseeing the work on the Temple of God. After the builders laid the foundation for the LORD's Temple, the priests stood in their ministerial robes with trumpets and the descendants of Levi (who were also descendants of Asaph) with cymbals to praise the LORD, according to instructions prepared by David, king of Israel. And they sang in unison to one another, giving thanks to the LORD: "He is good, and his gracious love to Israel endures forever." And all the people shouted out loudly in praise to the LORD when the foundation of the LORD's Temple was laid. Now a number of the priests, the Levities, and the leading officials of the elders who were very elderly had seen the former Temple with their own eyes. When they observed the foundation of the Temple being laid, they wept with a loud voice, while the rest of them shouted for joy. As a result, the people couldn't distinguish between the noise coming from the shouts of joy and the noise coming from the weeping people, because everyone was shouting loudly and could be heard a long way off.

So Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel and Jozadak's son Jeshua restarted construction of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were there supporting them. Right about then, Trans-Euphrates Governor Tattenai, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues approached and challenged them. They asked, "Who authorized you to build this Temple and to reconstruct this wall?" In answer, we responded with a list of the names of the men who were building the structure. read more.
But God watched over the Jewish leaders, who could not be forced to stop working until Darius received a report and responded in reply. Here is a copy of the letter that Trans-Euphrates Governor Tattenai, Shethar-bozenai, and his colleagues the Trans-Euphrates Persians sent to King Darius. The letter sent to him was written like this: To: King Darius: Greetings! This is to inform the king that we traveled to the Temple of the great God in the Judean province, which is being built with large stones and reinforced with wooden beams in its walls. The work proceeds diligently and is in capable hands. We asked the elders, "Who authorized you to build this Temple and to reinforce these walls?" We also asked them their names so that we could certify the identities of their leaders to you. In answer they responded, "We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the Temple that was built many years ago by a great king of Israel. But because our predecessors provoked the God of Heaven to become angry, he handed them over to the control of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this Temple and transported the people to Babylon. "However, during King Cyrus' first year that same King Cyrus of Babylon issued a decree to reconstruct this Temple of God. He delivered into the care of Sheshbazzar (whom he appointed governor) the gold and silver utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem Temple and brought into the Babylonian temple. "And Cyrus told him, "Take these utensils, go to Jerusalem, and carry them to the Temple, after the Temple of God has been built in its appropriate place.' "Then this very same Sheshbazzar arrived and laid the foundations for the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Since that time until now the Temple has been under construction and is not yet completed." Accordingly, with your approval we suggest that a search be conducted within the king's treasury at Babylon to verify whether or not King Cyrus ever issued such a decree to reconstruct this Temple of God in Jerusalem. Then please notify us concerning the king's pleasure in this matter.

DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem Let the Temple be rebuilt where they offered sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be laid with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 60 cubits, constructed with three layers of foundation stone interlaced with a row of new timber, the expenses for which are to be paid from the king's treasury. Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God.

"Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? And what does it look like now? From what you can see, it seems like nothing, doesn't it?


King Cyrus also brought out from storage the service instruments from the Temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his gods. Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out to Mithredath the Treasurer, had them inventoried, and had them placed in care of Sheshbazzar, governor of Judah. Here is a partial inventory: Gold dishes: 30 Silver dishes: 1,000 Sacrificial knives: 29 read more.
Gold bowls: 30 Silver bowls of another kind: 410 Miscellaneous instruments: 1,000 The complete inventory of gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all to Jerusalem, along with the exiles from Babylon.

Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God.