1   Notwithstandyng, in the seconde yere of the raigne of Darius, ^note Aggeus ∧ Zacharias the sonne of Addo the prophetes, prophecied vnto the Iewes, and to them in Iurie and Hierusalem, euen in the name of the Lord God of Israel.

2   Then Zorobabel the sonne of Salathiel, and Iesus the sonne of Iosedec stoode vp and began to builde the house of the Lorde at Hierusalem, when the prophetes of the Lord were with them and helped them.

3   At the same tyme came Sisinnes the gouernour of Syria and Phenice, with Sathrabuzanes and his companions, and sayde vnto them:

4   Who hath bydden [and commaunded] you to builde this house, to make this roofe and all other thinges againe? And who are the ^note workmen that builde th&ebar;?

5   Neuerthelesse, the elders of the Iewes had [such] grace of the Lorde, after he had visited the captiuitie,

6   That they were not letted from buildyng, vntill the tyme that kyng Darius was certified therof, and an aunswere receaued [from hym.]

7   The copie of the letters which he wrote and sent vnto Darius. Sisinnes gouernour of Syria and Phenice, and Sathrabuzanes with their companions, which are head rulers in Syria ∧ Phenice, sende their salutation vnto Darius the kyng. B   

8   We certifie our Lord the kyng, that we came into the lande of Iurie, and went to Hierusalem, where we founde the auncientes of the Iewes that were of the captiuitie in the citie of Hierusalem,

9   Buildyng an house vnto the Lorde, great and newe, of hewen and costlye stones, and the timber alredy layde vpon the walles:

10   Yea they make great haste with the worke, and it goeth foorth prosperously in their handes, and with great diligence and worshyp is it made.

11   Then asked we the elders, saying: By whose commaundement builde you vp this house, and lay the foundations of these workes?

12   Which we demaunded of them, to the intent that we myght geue knowledge vnto thee, ∧ write vnto thee of those that gouerned it: and we required of them their names in writyng that were their chiefe leaders to it. C   

13   So they gaue vs this aunswere: We are the seruauntes of the Lorde which made heauen and earth:

14   And as for this house, ^note it was builded many yeres agone by a kyng of Israel great and strong, and was finished.

15   But when our fathers prouoked God vnto wrath, and sinned agaynst the Lorde of Israel which is in heauen, ^note he gaue them ouer into the power of Nabuchodonosor kyng of Babylon, of the Chaldees:

16   Which brake downe the house and burnt it, and caryed away the people prisoners vnto Babylon.

17    ^noteNeuerthelesse, in the first yere that king Cyrus raigned ouer the countreys of Babylon, Cyrus the kyng wrote,

[and commaunded] to builde vp this house [agayne:] D   

18   And the holy vessels of golde and of siluer that Nabuchodonosor had caryed away out of the house at Hierusalem, and had dedicated them in his owne temple: those brought Cyrus foorth agayne out of the temple at Babylon, and deliuered them to Zorobabel and to Sanabassarus the ruler:

19   Commaundyng hym that he shoulde cary away those same vessels, and put them in the temple at Hierusalem, and that the temple of the Lorde shoulde be built in his [owne] place.

20   Then the same Sanabassarus beyng come hyther, layde the foundations of the house of the Lorde at Hierusalem, and from that to this, beyng styll a buildyng, it is not yet fully ended.

21   Nowe therfore O king, if thou thinkest it good, let it be sought in the libraries [and rolles] of kyng Cyrus:

22   And yf it be founde then that the buildyng of the house of the Lorde at Hierusalem hath ben done with the [counsell and] consent of kyng Cyrus, and yf our Lorde the kyng be so mynded, let hym geue aunswere vnto vs therof.

23    ^noteThen commaunded kyng Darius to seke in the kynges libraries at Babylon: and so at Ecbatane a towre in the region of Medea, there was founde a place where these thinges was layde vp for ^note memorie. E   

24   In the first yere of the raigne of Cyrus, [the same] kyng Cyrus c&obar;maunded that the house of the Lorde at Hierusalem shoulde be builded agayne, where they do sacrifice with the continuall fire.

25   Whose heyght shalbe sixtie cubites, and the breadth sixtie cubites, with three rowes of hewen stones, and one rowe of wood, newe, and of that countrey, and the expenses therof to be geuen out of the house of kyng Cyrus:

26   And the holy vessels of the house of the Lorde, both of golde and of siluer, that Nabuchodonosor toke out of the house at Hierusalem and brought to Babylon, shoulde be restored to the house at Hierusalem, and be set in the place where it was [before.] F   

27   And also he commaunded that Sisinnes the gouernour of Syria ∧ Phenice, and Sathrabuzanes, with their companions, and others constituted rulers in Syria and Phenice, shoulde take heede not to meddle with that place, but to suffer Zorobabel the seruaunt of the Lorde and gouernour of Iudea, and the elders of the Iewes, to builde that house of the Lorde in that place.

28   I haue commaunded also to haue it built vp whole agayne, and that they be diligent to helpe those that be of the captiuitie of the Iewes, tyll the house of the Lorde be finished:

29   And out of the tribute of Coelosyria and Phenice, a portion diligently to be geuen those men vnto the offeringes of the Lord, ∧ the same to be deliuered vnto Zorobabel the officer, that he therwithall may ordeyne oxen, rammes, lambes, G   

30   And also corne, salt, wine, and oyle, and that continually euery yere, after the expences ^note which the priestes that be at Hierusalem shall testifie to be made dayly [this shalbe geuen vnto them] without delay,

31   That they may offer sacrifices dayly to the hyest God for the kyng and for his children, and to pray for their liues.

32   And he commaunded also that whosoeuer shoulde breake any poynt of the foresayde and foredecreed thynges, or make it voyde, of his owne goodes shoulde a tree be taken, and he theron be hanged, and all his goodes seasoned vnto the kyng.

33   The Lorde therfore whose name is there called vpon, roote out and destroy euery kyng ∧ nation that stretcheth out his hande to hinder, or [hurt and] endomage that house of the Lorde in Hierusalem.

34   I Darius the kyng haue ordeyned, that accordyng to these thynges it be done with diligence.

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