GOD in the Old Testament - Ezra - Part 2

Ezra 5:1-2

    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. Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

 

Ezra 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.

 

Ezra 5:8  

        The king should know that we went to the district

    of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people 

    are rebuilding it with large stones and placing the 

    timbers in the walls. The work is being carried out 

    with diligence and is making rapid progress under 

    their direction.

 

Ezra 5:11-12  

        This is the answer they gave us:

 

        "We are the servants of the God of heaven and 

    earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was

    built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel 

    built and finished. But because our ancestors angered

    the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of 

    Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who 

    destroyed this temple and deported the people to 

    Babylon."

 

Ezra 5:13-15  

        "However, in the first year of Cyrus king of 

    Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this

    house of God. 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, 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."

 

Ezra 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."

 

Ezra 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.

(see all Ezra 5) 

    

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post