King James Version · The Persian return
1 Esdras 6
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1Now in the second year of the reign of Darius, and the son of Addo, , prophesied unto the in and in the name of of Israel, which was upon them. 2Then stood up the son of Salatiel, and the son of , and began to build the at , of being with them, and helping them. 3At the same time came unto them the governor of and , with and his companions, and said unto them, 4By whose appointment do ye build this house and this roof, and perform all the other things? and who are the workmen that perform these things? 5Nevertheless the of the obtained , because had visited ; 6And they were not hindered from building, until such time as signification was given unto Darius concerning them, and an answer received. 7The copy of the letters which , governor of and , and , with their companions, in and , wrote and sent unto Darius; To king Darius, greeting: 8Let all things be known unto our the king, that being come into the country of , and entered into the city of we found in the city of the ancients of the that were of 9Building an house unto , great and new, of hewn and costly stones, and the timber already laid upon the walls. 10And those works are done with great speed, and the work goeth on prosperously in their hands, and with all and diligence is it made. 11Then asked we these , saying, By whose build ye this house, and lay the foundations of these works? 12Therefore to the intent that we might give knowledge unto thee by writing, we demanded of them who were the chief doers, and we required of them the names in writing of their principal men. 13So they gave us this answer, We are the servants of which made and earth. 14And as for this house, it was builded many years ago by a king of Israel great and strong, and was finished. 15But when our fathers provoked unto , and against of Israel which is in , he gave them over into the of king of , of the Chaldees; 16Who pulled down the house, and burned it, and the people unto . 17But in the first year that king reigned over the country of , the king wrote to build up this house. 18And the vessels of gold and of silver, that had out of the house at , and had set them in his own temple those the king brought forth again out of at , and they were to and to Sanabassarus the ruler, 19With that he should carry away the same vessels, and put them in at ; and that of should be built in his place. 20Then the same Sanabassarus, being come hither, laid the foundations of the at ; and from that time to this being still a building, it is not yet fully ended. 21Now therefore, if it seem good unto the king, let search be made among the records of king : 22And if it be found that the building of the at hath been done with the consent of king , and if our the king be so minded, let him signify unto us thereof. 23Then commanded king Darius to seek among the records at : and so at the palace, which is in the country of , there was found a roll wherein these things were recorded. 24In the first year of the reign of king commanded that the at should be built again, where they do with continual : 25Whose height shall be sixty and the breadth sixty , with three rows of hewn stones, and one row of new wood of that country; and the expences thereof to be given out of the house of king : 26And that the vessels of the , both of gold and silver, that took out of the house at , and brought to , should be restored to the house at , and be set in the place where they were before. 27And also he commanded that the governor of and , and , and their companions, and those which were appointed in and , should be careful not to meddle with the place, but suffer , the , and governor of , and the of the , to build the in that place. 28I have commanded also to have it built up whole again; and that they look diligently to help those that be of of the , till the be finished: 29And out of the tribute of and a carefully to be given these men for the of , that is, to the governor, for bullocks, and rams, and lambs; 30And also corn, salt, , and oil, and that continually every year without further question, according as the priests that be in shall signify to be daily spent: 31That may be made to for the king and for his children, and that they may for their lives. 32And he commanded that whosoever should transgress, yea, or make of any thing afore spoken or written, out of his own house should a tree be taken, and he thereon be hanged, and all his goods seized for the king. 33 therefore, whose name is there called upon, every king and nation, that stretcheth out his hand to hinder or endamage that in . 34I Darius the king have ordained that according unto these things it be done with diligence.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The Persian return, 539 BC to 332 BC ›
Persia takes Babylon and reverses its policy, sending exiled peoples home to rebuild their temples. Judah returns as a small province, rebuilding under imperial permission rather than independence.
- Persia
- The largest empire the world had yet seen, from the Indus to the Aegean, run through provinces, a royal road, and a postal system. Its policy on conquered peoples was to send them home and fund their temples, in exchange for loyalty and prayers for the king. The Cyrus Cylinder states the policy in Cyrus's own words, and Ezra opens with the same policy applied to Judah.
- Judah
- A small, poor province called Yehud, a fraction of the old kingdom, with a rebuilt temple that made the people who remembered the first one weep. No king, and no prospect of one. Leadership passes to priests and scribes, which shapes everything afterward.
- Greece
- Persia and Greece collide at Marathon and Salamis, Persia loses, and Athens spends the following decades on the Parthenon, tragedy, and Socrates. Herodotus writes the first history in order to explain that war. Then Plato and Aristotle, whose vocabulary the church will still be using at Nicaea eight centuries later.
- Further afield
- Rome throws out its kings and becomes a republic. In India and China this is the age of the Buddha's early followers and of Confucian teaching taking hold. More of what the world still thinks with was invented in this era than in almost any other.