NIV Audio Bible by Chapter, NIV Ezra Audio Bible
Ezra 6: Rebuilding the Temple – Clear & Engaging Audio Bible Reading | Darius’ Decree, Temple Completion, and the Celebration of Passover
Listen to this clear and engaging audio recording of Ezra 6 and immerse yourself in the story of the rebuilding of the temple. Hear about Darius’ decree that reinstates the project, the rebuilding process and eventual completion of the temple, and the celebration of Passover. Perfect for deepening your understanding of this chapter, study or reflection. Experience the power and beauty of the Scriptures.
EZRA 6 (NIV)
1 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored
in the treasury at Babylon.
2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in
the province of Media, and this was written on it:
Memorandum:
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the
temple of God in Jerusalem:
Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its
foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,
4
with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be
paid by the royal treasury.
5 Also, the gold and silver articles of the house
of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to
Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they
are to be deposited in the house of God.
6 Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you
other officials of that province, stay away from there.
7 Do not interfere
with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the
Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in
the construction of this house of God:
Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the
revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop.
9 Whatever is
needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven,
and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in
Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail,
10 so that they may offer
sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the
king and his sons.
11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be
pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime
their house is to be made a pile of rubble.
12 May God, who has caused his
Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change
this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.
I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.
13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of
Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with
diligence.
14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under
the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They
finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and
the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
15 The temple
was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the
reign of King Darius.
16 Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the
exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
17 For the
dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred
rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve
male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel.
18 And they installed the
priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of
God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the
Passover.
20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all
ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the
exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves.
21 So the
Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had
separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in
order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel.
22 For seven days they celebrated
with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them
with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted
them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.