5:1 Then Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo prophesied concerning the Jews who were in Judah and in Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 5:2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the temple of God which was in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
5:3 At that time Tattenai governor of the Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked them, “Who gave you authority1 to rebuild this temple and to complete its walls?” 2 5:4 Then they3 further asked them, “What are the names of the men who are building this structure?” 5:5 But God was watching over4 the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped5 until a report could be dispatched6 to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.
5:6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai governor of the Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and his colleagues who were the officials of the Trans-Euphrates sent to Darius the king. 5:7 The report they sent to him was written as follows.
“To Darius the king—all greetings!7 5:8 Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands. 5:9 We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete its walls?’ 5:10 We also inquired of their names in order to inform you, so that we might write the names of the men who were their leaders. 5:11 They responded to us in the following way. ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king8 of Israel built it and completed it. 5:12 But after our ancestors9 angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands10 of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. 5:13 But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God. 5:14 Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace of Babylon—even those things Cyrus the king brought from the palace of Babylon and presented11 to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor. 5:15 He said to him, ‘Take these vessels and go deposit them in the temple which is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its proper location’.12 5:16 Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God which was in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment13 it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.
5:17 “Now if the king is so inclined, let a search be conducted in the royal archives there in Babylon, in order to determine whether Cyrus the king did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send to us a decision concerning this matter.”