14
This Temple was built and equipped many years ago by a very powerful king of Israel.
15
But because our ancestors sinned against Israel's Lord in heaven and made him angry, he let them be conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, a king of the Chaldean dynasty.
16
The Temple was demolished and burned, and the people were taken into exile in Babylonia.
17
Then, in the first year of his reign as emperor of Babylonia, Cyrus issued orders for the Temple to be rebuilt.
18
He gave back the sacred gold and silver utensils which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in his own temple in Babylon. Emperor Cyrus turned these utensils over to Zerubbabel and the governor, Sheshbazzar.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.