1Then Darius the king made a decree, and the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was searched. 2A scroll was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, and in it this was written for a record:
3In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid, with its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits; 4with three courses of great stones and a course of new timber. Let the expenses be given out of the king’s house. 5Also let the gold and silver vessels of God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, everything to its place. You shall put them in God’s house.
6Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must stay far from there. 7Leave the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place. 8Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the River, expenses must be given with all diligence to these men, that they not be hindered. 9That which they have need of, including young bulls, rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail, 10that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons. 11I have also made a decree that whoever alters this message, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened on it; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. 12May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter this, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree. Let it be done with all diligence.
13Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their companions did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the king had sent a decree.
14The elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18They set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God which is at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
19The children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20Because the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, all of them were pure. They killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves. 21The children of Israel who had returned out of the captivity, and all who had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ate, 22and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; because Yahweh had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God, the God of Israel’s house.
References to the prophet and lawgiver Moses are found over 1,000 times in the Bible, demonstrating his importance in biblical history. His life ranges from being a baby hidden by his mother from the death decree ordered by the Pharoah of Egypt (Exod 2:2, 3) to his death on Mt. Nebo in Jordan (Deut 34:1, 6), not far from his brother Aaron on Mt. Ebal (Deut 10:6).
Moses was the son of Amram and Jochebed (Hebrews in Egyptian slavery). He was a descendant of Levi and brother of Aaron and Miriam. His wife's name was Zipporah, through whom was born Gershom and Eliezer. He is most known as the lawgiver of the Jews and the miracle worker in Egypt, responsible for the freeing of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.
Moses was brought up in Egypt in the royal house (trained in all the ways of the Egyptians, Exod ), but afterwards the killing of an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite, he fled Egypt, staying in the desert with Jethro, a priest of Midian. Moses afterward married Zipporah, a daughter of Jethro, from whom was born Moses' first son, Gershom.
Several years later, Moses encountered Yahweh, the God of Israel, who appeared to Moses in a burning bush, revealed His personal name (see Exod ) and told Moses to return to Egypt, showing miraculous signs to the Pharoah, demanding the release of the Israelites from bondage.
For more information on Moses, see Joan Comay and Ronald Brownrigg, Who's Who in the Bible: The Old Testament and The Apocrypha, The New Testament, Two Volumes in One (New York: Bonanza Books, 1980), pp. 270-289; Herbert Lockyer, All the Men of the Bible and All the Women of the Bible, Two Books in One (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1958, 1967), pp. 246-248; Biographies of Bible Characters, People and characters in the Bible. https://www.encinardemamre.com/en/Biographies/M.html