Afterward they offered the continual burnt offerings and those for the new moons and those for all the holy assemblies of the <sc>Lordsc> and all those that were being voluntarily offered to the <sc>Lordsc>.

<n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">Blessed be the <sc>Lordsc> God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> which is in Jerusalem!

Then I said to them, &#8220;You are holy to the <sc>Lordsc>, just as these vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of your fathers.

With antiphonal response they sang,<n id="1" /> praising and glorifying the <sc>Lordsc>:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;For he is good;p> <p class="poetry">his loyal love toward Israel is forever.&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">All the people gave a loud<n id="2" /> shout as they praised the <sc>Lordsc> when the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> was established.

<t /><p class="bodytext">When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles<n id="1" /> were building a temple for the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel,

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">In the first<n id="2" /> year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the <sc>Lord&#8217;ssc> message<n id="3" /> spoken through<n id="4" /> Jeremiah,<n id="5" /> the <sc>Lordsc> stirred the mind<n id="6" /> of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated<n id="7" /> a proclamation<n id="8" /> throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict<n id="9" /> the following:<n id="10" />p>

When the builders established the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions,<n id="1" /> and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the <sc>Lordsc> according to the instructions left by<n id="2" /> King David of Israel.<n id="3" />

This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the <sc>Lordsc> his God was on him.

When they came to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders<n id="1" /> offered voluntary offerings for the temple of God in order to rebuild<n id="2" /> it on its site.

They established the altar on its foundations, even though they were in terror of the local peoples,<n id="1" /> and they offered burnt offerings on it to the <sc>Lordsc>, both the morning and the evening offerings.

<t /><p class="bodytext">What follows<n id="1" /> is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe.<n id="2" /> Ezra was<n id="3" /> a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the <sc>Lordsc> and his statutes over Israel:p>

Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> in the storerooms of the temple of the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement,<n id="1" /> with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the <sc>Lordsc> my God.

Now give praise to the <sc>Lordsc> God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the local residents<n id="1" /> and from these foreign wives.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:p> <p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple<n id="1" /> for him in Jerusalem,<n id="2" /> which is in Judah.

Anyone from<n id="1" /> his people among you (may his God be with him!) may go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may build the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel &#8211; he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then the leaders<n id="1" /> of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites &#8211; all those whose mind God had stirred &#8211; got ready<n id="2" /> to go up in order to build the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> in Jerusalem.<n id="3" />

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, &#8220;You have no right<n id="1" /> to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.&#8221;

They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the <sc>Lordsc> had given them joy and had changed the opinion<n id="1" /> of the king of Assyria<n id="2" /> toward them, so that he assisted<n id="3" /> them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.p>

He has also conferred his favor on me before the king, his advisers, and all the influential leaders of the king. I gained strength as the hand of the <sc>Lordsc> my God was on me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.p>