Ezra 5:6-17

⁶ This is the copy of the letter which Tattenai , the governor of the province beyond the River , and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues the officials , who were beyond the River , sent to Darius the king . ⁷ They sent a report to him in which it was written thus : "To Darius the king , all peace . ⁸ "Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah , to the house of the great God , which is being built with huge stones , and beams are being laid in the walls ; and this work is going on with great care and is succeeding in their hands . ⁹ "Then we asked those elders and said to them thus , 'Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure ?' ¹⁰ "We also asked them their names so as to inform you, and that we might write down the names of the men who were at their head . ¹¹ "Thus they answered e us, saying , 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago , which a great king of Israel built and finished . ¹² 'But because e our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath , He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , the Chaldean , who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon . ¹³ 'However , in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon , King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God . ¹⁴ 'Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem , and brought them to the temple of Babylon , these King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one whose name was Sheshbazzar , whom he had appointed governor . ¹⁵ 'He said to him, "Take these utensils , go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place ." ¹⁶ 'Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem ; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is not yet completed .' ¹⁷ "Now if it pleases the king , let a search be conducted in the king's treasure house , which is there in Babylon , if it be that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God at Jerusalem ; and let the king send to us his decision concerning this matter."