The report they sent to him was written as follows: ¹  “To King Darius: All greetings! ² 

Now Ezra had dedicated himself ¹  to the study of the law of the Lord, to its observance, and to teaching ²  its statutes and judgments in Israel.

Then they presented the decrees of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who gave help to the people and to the temple of God.

We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’

Then the priests and the Levites took charge of ¹  the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

Then the local people ¹  began to discourage ²  the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.

At that time Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked, “Who gave you authority ¹  to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?” ² 

I prayed, ¹  “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens.

Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, just as these vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers.

and to bring silver and gold which the king and his advisers have freely contributed to the God of Israel, who resides in Jerusalem,

“I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work. ¹ 

Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us ¹  to restore the temple of our God and to raise ²  up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ³ 

Deliver to ¹  the God of Jerusalem the vessels that are given to you for the service of the temple of your God.

King Cyrus of Persia entrusted ¹  them to ²  Mithredath ³  the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar ⁴  the leader of the Judahite exiles. ⁵ 

The letter you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence.

You are authorized 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, ² 

So we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there for three days.

(This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:) “To King Artaxerxes, ¹  from your servants in ²  Trans-Euphrates:

I have now issued a decree ¹  that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel – even the priests and Levites – who wishes to do so may go up with you to Jerusalem. ² 

¹ These are the people ²  of the province who were going up, ³  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem ⁴  and Judah, each to his own city.