They donated for the service of God’s temple 5,000 talents ¹  and ten thousand darics ²  of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze, and 100,000 talents of iron.

O Lord our God, all this wealth, which we have collected to build a temple for you to honor your holy name, comes from you; it all belongs to you.

Solomon laid the foundation for God’s temple; ¹  its length (determined according to the old standard of measure) was 90 feet, and its width 30 feet. ² 

He made the most holy place; ¹  its length was 30 feet, ²  corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet. ³  He plated it with 600 talents ⁴  of fine gold.

Huram Abi ¹  made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. ² 

They worked hard and made the repairs. ¹  They followed the measurements specified for God’s temple and restored it. ² 

They closed the doors of the temple porch and put out the lamps; they did not offer incense or burnt sacrifices in the sanctuary of the God of Israel.

Then the leaders ¹  of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready ²  to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ³ 

So the work on the temple of God in Jerusalem came to a halt. It remained halted until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. ¹ 

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak began ¹  to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment ¹  it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.’

¹ Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the Lord which is in Jerusalem!

and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels intended for the temple of our God – items that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present had contributed.

Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ¹  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

Then the priests and the Levites took charge of ¹  the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

Then they presented the decrees of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who gave help to the people and to the temple of God.

The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants who were the singers responsible for the service of the temple of God.

and I returned to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by supplying him with a storeroom in the courts of the temple of God.

Not only that, ¹  but I have seen the wicked approaching ²  and entering the temple, ³  and as they left the holy temple, ⁴  they boasted ⁵  in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma. ⁶ 

In the future ¹  the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure ²  as the most important of mountains, and will be the most prominent of hills. ³  All the nations will stream to it,