There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have<n id="1" /> insight, discernment, and wisdom like that<n id="2" /> of the gods.<n id="3" /> King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners.<n id="4" />

As he approached the den, he called out to Daniel in a worried voice,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God whom you continually serve able to rescue you from the lions?&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">So the work on the temple of God in Jerusalem came to a halt. It remained halted until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son<n id="1" /> of Iddo<n id="2" /> prophesied concerning the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem<n id="3" /> in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.

But God was watching over<n id="1" /> the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped<n id="2" /> until a report could be dispatched<n id="3" /> to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.p>

But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon,<n id="1" /> King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God.

He said to him, &#8220;Take these vessels and go deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its proper location.&#8221;<n id="1" />

Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment<n id="1" /> it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.&#8217;p>

<p class="bodytext">The people<n id="1" /> of Israel &#8211; the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles<n id="2" /> &#8211; observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy.

They appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their divisions over the worship of God at Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> in accord with<n id="2" /> the book of Moses.

You are authorized<n id="1" /> by the king and his seven advisers to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your possession,<n id="2" />

along with all the silver and gold that you may collect<n id="1" /> throughout all the province of Babylon and the contributions of the people and the priests for the temple of their God which is in Jerusalem.

You may do whatever seems appropriate to you and your colleagues<n id="1" /> with the rest of the silver and the gold, in keeping with the will of your God.

The rest of the needs for the temple of your God that you may have to supply,<n id="1" /> you may do so from the royal treasury.p>

<p class="poetry">You people of Israel should tell those nations this:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;These gods did not make heaven and earth.p> <p class="poetry">They will disappear<n id="1" /> from the earth and from under the heavens.&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

He asked them to pray for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he<n id="1" /> and his friends would not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

saying,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Let the name of God<n id="2" /> be praised<n id="3" /> forever and ever,p> <p class="poetry">for wisdom and power belong to him.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has granted you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.

If<n id="1" /> our God whom we are serving exists,<n id="2" /> he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well.

But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don&#8217;t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.&#8221;p>