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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ezra 6 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ezra/6.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ezra/6-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Ezra 6</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ezra/5.htm" title="Ezra 5">◄</a> Ezra 6 <a href="../ezra/7.htm" title="Ezra 7">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">King Cyrus' Order Is Rediscovered</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_6_1"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.1" class="v15_6_1">1</span>King Darius ordered someone to go through the old records kept in Babylonia. </span><span class="v15_6_2"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.2" class="v15_6_2">2</span>Finally, a scroll<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.2!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> was found in Ecbatana, the capital of Media Province, and it said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_6_2">This official record will show </span><span class="v15_6_3"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.3" class="v15_6_3">3</span>that in the first year Cyrus was king, he gave orders to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem, so that sacrifices and offerings could be presented there.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.3!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> It is to be built 27 meters high and 27 meters wide, </span><span class="v15_6_4"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.4" class="v15_6_4">4</span>with one<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.4!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> row of wooden beams for each three rows of large stones. The royal treasury will pay for everything. </span><span class="v15_6_5"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.5" class="v15_6_5">5</span>Then the gold and silver things that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple and brought to Babylonia are to be returned to their proper places.</span></p><h3 class="s1">King Darius Orders the Work To Continue</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_6_6"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.6" class="v15_6_6">6</span>King Darius sent this message:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_6_6">Governor Tattenai of Western Province and Shethar Bozenai, you and your advisors must stay away from the temple. </span><span class="v15_6_7"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.7" class="v15_6_7">7</span>Let the Jewish governor and leaders rebuild it where it stood before. And stop slowing them down!</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_6_8"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.8" class="v15_6_8">8</span>Starting at once, I am ordering you to help the leaders by paying their expenses from the tax money collected in Western Province. </span><span class="v15_6_9"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.9" class="v15_6_9">9</span>And don't fail to let the priests in Jerusalem have whatever they need each day so they can offer sacrifices to the God of heaven. Give them young bulls, rams, sheep, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil. </span><span class="v15_6_10"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.10" class="v15_6_10">10</span>I want them to be able to offer pleasing sacrifices to God and to pray for me and my family.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_6_11"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.11" class="v15_6_11">11</span>If any of you don't obey this order, a wooden beam will be taken from your house and sharpened on one end. Then it will be driven through your body,<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.11!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and your house will be torn down and turned into a garbage dump. </span><span class="v15_6_12"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.12" class="v15_6_12">12</span>I ask the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem to destroy any king or nation who tries either to change what I have said or to tear down his temple. I, Darius, give these orders, and I expect them to be followed carefully.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Temple Is Dedicated</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_6_13"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.13" class="v15_6_13">13</span>Governor Tattenai, Shethar Bozenai, and their advisors carefully obeyed King Darius. </span><span class="v15_6_14"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.14" class="v15_6_14">14</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.14!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> With great success the Jewish leaders continued working on the temple, while Haggai and Zechariah encouraged them by their preaching. And so, the temple was completed at the command of the God of Israel and by the orders of kings Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes of Persia.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.14!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v15_6_15"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.15" class="v15_6_15">15</span>On the third day of the month of Adar<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.15!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> in the sixth year of the rule of Darius,<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.15!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> the temple was finished.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_6_16"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.16" class="v15_6_16">16</span>The people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and everyone else who had returned from exile were happy and celebrated as they dedicated God's temple. </span><span class="v15_6_17"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.17" class="v15_6_17">17</span>One hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs were offered as sacrifices at the dedication. Also twelve goats were sacrificed as sin offerings for the twelve tribes of Israel. </span><span class="v15_6_18"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.18" class="v15_6_18">18</span>Then the priests and Levites were assigned their duties in God's temple in Jerusalem, according to the instructions Moses had written.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.18!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><h3 class="s1">The Passover</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_6_19"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.19" class="v15_6_19">19</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.19!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Everyone who had returned from exile celebrated Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.19!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v15_6_20"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.20" class="v15_6_20">20</span>The priests and Levites had gone through a ceremony to make themselves acceptable to lead in worship. Then some of them killed Passover lambs for those who had returned, including the other priests and themselves.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_6_21"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.21" class="v15_6_21">21</span>The sacrifices were eaten by the Israelites who had returned and by the neighboring people who had given up the sinful customs of other nations in order to worship the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel. </span><span class="v15_6_22"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.6.22" class="v15_6_22">22</span>For seven days they celebrated the Festival of Thin Bread. Everyone was happy because the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel had made sure that the king of Assyria<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.6.22!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> would be kind to them and help them build the temple.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">scroll: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">A roll of paper or special leather used for writing on.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.3 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">so that … there: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Aramaic text.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.4 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">one: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Aramaic text.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.11 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">driven through your body: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">A well-known punishment in the ancient Near East.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.14 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Artaxerxes of Persia: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 4.7.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.15 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Adar: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The twelfth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-February to about mid-March.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.15 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sixth year … Darius: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">515 <char style="sc">b.c.</char></char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.18 </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Ezra 4.8—6.18 was written in Aramaic, instead of Hebrew like most of the Old Testament.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.19 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the first month: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.22 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">king of Assyria: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Meaning the king of Persia, because Assyria was now part of the Persian Empire.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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