1. In the second year of the reign of Darius, the two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo, began to speak in the name of the Lord God of Israel to the Jews who lived in Judah and Jerusalem.
2. When Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak heard their messages, they began to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, and the two prophets helped them.
3. Almost at once Sisinnes, governor of Greater Syria and Phoenicia, with Shethar Bozenai and their fellow-officials, came to Jerusalem and demanded:
4. “Who gave you orders to build this temple and complete this roof and everything else? Who is doing this work?”
5. But the Lord was with the people who had returned from exile and was watching over the Jewish leaders,
6. and they were allowed to continue building until Darius could be informed and his reply received.
7. This is the report that the Persian officials sent to the emperor:
8. “To Emperor Darius, greetings.“Your Majesty should know that we went to Judah and to Jerusalem and there we found the leaders of the Jews who had returned from exile
9. building a large new temple for the Lord with expensive, shaped stone blocks and with wooden beams set in the walls.
10. The work is being done rapidly and is moving ahead steadily; yet they are taking great care and making their work look beautiful.
11. “We then asked the leaders of the people to tell us who had given them orders to rebuild the Temple and lay the foundations for the buildings.
12. We also asked them who their leaders were and demanded a list of their names, so that we could inform you.
13. “They answered, ‘We are servants of the Lord who created heaven and earth.
14. This Temple was built and equipped many years ago by a very powerful king of Israel.
15. But because our ancestors sinned against Israel's Lord in heaven and made him angry, he let them be conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, a king of the Chaldean dynasty.
16. The Temple was demolished and burnt, and the people were taken into exile in Babylonia.
17. Then, in the first year of his reign as emperor of Babylonia, Cyrus issued orders for the Temple to be rebuilt.
18. He gave back the sacred gold and silver utensils which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in his own temple in Babylon. Cyrus handed these utensils over to Zerubbabel and the governor, Sheshbazzar.
19. The emperor told Sheshbazzar to take them and return them to the Temple in Jerusalem, and to rebuild the Temple where it had stood before.