Prophets back the Temple’s rebuilding
1At the time, two prophets preached in Jerusalem and Judah. They were Haggai and Zechariah, son of Iddo. [1] They told people their messages came from God.2Judah’s governor, Zerubbabel, [2] and the high priest, Jeshua, [3] decided to finish the job of rebuilding Jerusalem's Temple. [4] Both prophets helped.
“Who gave you permission?”
3Some officials came asking about the project. Tattenai led the group. He governed the entire territory west of the Euphrates River. He brought associates with him, including a man named Shethar-bozenai. They asked the Jews, “Who gave you orders to rebuild this? 4And what are the names of the men working on this job?”5God was looking out for the Jews, so the officials didn’t order them to stop. Instead, they wrote a letter to King Darius.
Letter to Darius
6This is what Tattenai, Shethar-bozenai, and the other officials wrote to King Darius:7“To King Darius. We hope all is well with you.
8We wanted to report that the people in Judah are rebuilding the temple to their God. They’re using good stones, hand-cut. And they’ve already framed the walls with timber. They’re working quickly and making good progress.
9We asked the leaders, ‘Who gave you orders to rebuild this?’ 10We also asked for names of the people working on the job, so we could give you the list.
11Here’s what they said: ‘We worship the God of everyone in heaven and earth. We’re simply rebuilding the Temple that one of our greatest kings built long ago.
12Our ancestors made some bad decisions. And God send Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar to punish the people. The king’s soldiers destroyed the Temple. Then they took the survivors back to Babylon with them as captives.
13Years earlier, [5] Persian King Cyrus freed the Jews and told them to go back to their land and rebuild Jerusalem’s Temple. [6] 14Cyrus also gave the Jews back everything Babylonians looted from the Temple. He collected all those silver and gold objects from the Babylonian temple and gave them to the governor he appointed over Judah, Sheshbazzar.
15He told the governor, ‘Go rebuild the Jerusalem Temple where it was before, and put these sacred objects back where they belong.’
16Sheshbazzar started the work. They built the foundation. Our people have been working on it ever since. But we’re not finished.’
