| 3:1 | When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.
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| 3:2 | Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
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| 3:3 | Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
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| 3:4 | Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day.
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| 3:5 | After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD.
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| 3:6 | On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD's temple had not yet been laid.
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| 3:7 | Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
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| 3:8 | In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites twenty years of age and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD.
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| 3:9 | Jeshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers-- all Levites-- joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.
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| 3:10 | When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel.
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| 3:11 | With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD |
| 3:12 | But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.
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| 3:13 | No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.
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| 4:1 | When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,
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| 4:2 | they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, "Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."
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| 4:3 | But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, "You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us."
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| 4:4 | Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.
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| 4:5 | They hired counselors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
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| 4:6 | At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
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| 4:7 | And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.
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| 4:8 | Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows |
| 4:9 | Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates-- the judges and officials over the men from Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,
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| 4:10 | and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.
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| 4:11 | (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.) To King Artaxerxes, From your servants, the men of Trans-Euphrates |
| 4:12 | The king should know that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.
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| 4:13 | Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and the royal revenues will suffer.
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| 4:14 | Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king,
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| 4:15 | so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place of rebellion from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.
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| 4:16 | We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.
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| 4:17 | The king sent this reply |
| 4:18 | The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence.
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| 4:19 | I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition.
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| 4:20 | Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them.
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| 4:21 | Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.
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| 4:22 | Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?
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| 4:23 | As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.
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| 4:24 | Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
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| 5:1 | Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
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| 5:2 | Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
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| 5:3 | At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, "Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?"
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| 5:4 | They also asked, "What are the names of the men constructing this building?"
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| 5:5 | But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.
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| 5:6 | This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius.
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| 5:7 | The report they sent him read as follows |
| 5:8 | The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.
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| 5:9 | We questioned the elders and asked them, "Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?"
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| 5:10 | We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.
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| 5:11 | This is the answer they gave us |
| 5:12 | But because our fathers angered the God of heaven, he handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.
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| 5:13 | "However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.
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| 5:14 | He even removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon. "Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor,
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| 5:15 | and he told him, "Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site."
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| 5:16 | So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished."
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| 5:17 | Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.
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| 20:1 | Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
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| 20:2 | So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don"t know where they have put him!"
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| 20:3 | So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.
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| 20:4 | Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
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| 20:5 | He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
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| 20:6 | Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,
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| 20:7 | as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus" head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
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| 20:8 | Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
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| 20:9 | (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
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| 20:10 | Then the disciples went back to their homes,
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| 20:11 | but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb
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| 20:12 | and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus" body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
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| 20:13 | They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don"t know where they have put him."
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| 20:14 | At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
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| 20:15 | "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
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| 20:16 | Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
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| 20:17 | Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, "I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.""
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| 20:18 | Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news |
| 20:19 | On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
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| 20:20 | After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
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| 20:21 | Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
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| 20:22 | And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
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| 20:23 | If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
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| 20:24 | Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
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| 20:25 | So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
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| 20:26 | A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
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| 20:27 | Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
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| 20:28 | Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
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| 20:29 | Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
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| 20:30 | Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
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| 20:31 | But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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