Ezra 6:9-19

9 That if it be needed, give they both calves, and lambs, and kids into burnt sacrifice to [the] God of heaven; (and also that) wheat, (and) salt, and wine, and oil, by the custom of (the) priests that be in Jerusalem, be given to them by each day, that no complaint be in any thing. (And that whatever the priests who be in Jerusalem need, give it to them, yea, calves, and lambs, and goat kids for the burnt sacrifices to the God of heaven; and also wheat, and salt, and wine, and oil, yea, whatever is needed for each day, so that no complaint be made about anything.)
10 And (then) offer they offerings to [the] God of heaven; and (also) pray they for the life of the king, and of his sons.
11 Therefore this sentence is set of me, that if any man change this behest, a (piece of) wood be taken of his house, and be it raised up, and be he hanged thereon; soothly his house be forfeited. (And so this decree is given by me, that if anyone change this command, a piece of timber be taken from his house, and it be raised up, and let him be hanged upon it; and then his house be forfeited.)
12 And God, that maketh his name to dwell there, destroy all the realms and people, that hold forth their hand to impugn and destroy that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I Darius have deemed the sentence, which I will (to) be fulfilled diligently (I, Darius, have given this decree, which I command to be diligently fulfilled).
13 Therefore Tatnai, duke of the country beyond the flood, and Shetharboznai, and his counsellors, did execution, either fulfilled, so diligently, by that that king Darius had commanded. (And so Tatnai, the governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shetharboznai, and his counsellors, or his officials, diligently fulfilled what King Darius had commanded.)
14 Soothly the elder men of (the) Jews builded (the Temple), and had prosperity, by the prophecy of Haggai, the prophet, and (the prophecy) of Zechariah, the son of Iddo; and they builded (it), and made (it), for [the] God of Israel commanded (it), and for Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia, (also) commanded (it);
15 and they performed this house of God till to the third day of the month Adar, which is (in) the sixth year of the realm of king Darius. (and they finished this House of God on the third day of the month of Adar, or March, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.)
16 And the sons of Israel, the priests and (the) deacons, and the others of the sons of (the) transmigration, that is, of them that came from the transmigration, made the hallowing of God's house in joy; (And the Israelites, yea, the priests, and the Levites, and the others of the sons of the captivity, dedicated the House of God with great joy;)
17 and offered, in the hallowing of God's house, an hundred calves, two hundred wethers, four hundred lambs, (and) twelve bucks of goats for the sin of all Israel, by the number of the lineages of Israel. (and offered, for the dedication of the House of God, a hundred calves, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve goat bucks, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.)
18 And they ordained (the) priests in their orders, and deacons in their whiles (and the Levites in their divisions), upon the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
19 And the sons of (the) transmigration made pask, in the fourteenth day of the first month. (And the sons of the captivity kept, or observed, the Passover on the fourteen day of the first month.)

Ezra 6:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZRA 6

Darius, on receiving the letter from his officers in Samaria, searched for the decree of Cyrus, and found it, and which he confirmed, Ezr 6:1-7 and made a fresh decree, and ordered expenses to be given out of his tribute for the building of the temple, and for the sacrifices of it; and that whosoever altered it should be hanged on the timber of his own house, and imprecated a curse on those that should destroy the house of God, Ezr 6:8-12 upon which the building went on, and was finished, Ezr 6:13-15 and the temple was dedicated to God in a solemn manner, Ezr 6:16-18, and the passover was kept by all the people, Ezr 6:19-22.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.