9
And whatever is needed--bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require--let that be given to them day by day without fail,
10
that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven
1and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11
Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and
2his house shall be made a dunghill.
12
May the God
3who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence."
The Temple Finished and Dedicated
13 Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king,
4Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered.
14
5And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and
6by decree of Cyrus and
7Darius and
8Artaxerxes king of Persia;
15
and this house was finished on the third day of the
9month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16
And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the
10dedication of this house of God with joy.
17
They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
18
And they set the priests
11in their divisions and the Levites
12in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem,
13as it is written in the Book of Moses.
Passover Celebrated
19 14On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover.