14
And the house was built many years ago by a king of Israel who was great and strong, and it was finished.
15
But when our fathers sinned against the Lord of Israel who is in heaven, and provoked him, he gave them over into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of the Chaldeans;
16
and they pulled down the house, and burned it, and carried the people away captive to Babylon.
17
But in the first year that Cyrus reigned over the country of Babylonia, King Cyrus wrote that this house should be rebuilt.
18
And the holy vessels of gold and of silver, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the house in Jerusalem and stored in his own temple, these Cyrus the king took out again from the temple in Babylon, and they were delivered to Zerubbabel and Sheshbazzar the governor
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.