16
The Temple was demolished and burned, and the people were taken into exile in Babylonia.
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Then, in the first year of his reign as emperor of Babylonia, Cyrus issued orders for the Temple to be rebuilt.
1
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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.
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The Emperor told Sheshbazzar to take them and return them to the Temple in Jerusalem, and to rebuild the Temple where it had stood before.
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So Sheshbazzar came and laid its foundation, and construction has continued from then until the present, but the Temple is still not finished.'
21
"Now, if it please Your Majesty, have a search made in the royal records in Babylon
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to find whether or not the building of this Temple in Jerusalem had the approval of Emperor Cyrus, and then, if it please Your Majesty, inform us what your will is in this matter."
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So Emperor Darius ordered a search to be made in the royal records that were kept in Babylon. It was, however, in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found, containing the following record:
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"In the first year of his reign Emperor Cyrus ordered the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, where sacrifices are continually offered.
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The Temple is to be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide. The walls must be built with one layer of new local wood on top of each three layers of shaped stone. All expenses are to be paid by the royal treasury.
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Also the gold and silver utensils which King Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon from the Temple in Jerusalem are to be returned to their proper place in the Jerusalem Temple."