The Temple Completed

During the reign of King Darius, a search was conducted in the archives at Babylon and a scroll was found in the palace at Achmetha containing the original decree of Cyrus regarding the house of God at Jerusalem (Ezra 6:1-3). The decree specified that the temple be rebuilt as a place to offer sacrifices, with its expenses paid from the royal treasury and the gold and silver vessels returned to their places (Ezra 6:4-5). Darius consequently ordered Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai to stay away from the work and allow the governor of the Jews and the elders to rebuild the house of God on its site (Ezra 6:6-7).

King Darius further commanded that the cost of construction be paid in full to these men from the royal revenue of the province Beyond the River (Ezra 6:8). He specified that whatever was needed for burnt offerings to the God of heaven—including young bulls, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil—be provided daily without fail so that they might pray for the life of the king and his sons (Ezra 6:9-10). The king issued a final warning that any person who altered this edict would have a beam pulled from their house and be impaled upon it (Ezra 6:11).

The elders of the Jews continued building and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo (Ezra 6:14). The text does not say how the labor was divided among specific individuals, but it records that they finished the construction according to the commandment of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes (Ezra 6:14). The temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius (Ezra 6:15). Following the completion, the people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy (Ezra 6:16).