1 Esdras 7

1Then Sisinnes, governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, and Sathrabuzanes and their associates, following what had been commanded by King Darius,

2They supervised the holy works more diligently, working together with the elders of the Jews and the temple overseers.

3And the holy works prospered, while Haggai and Zechariah the prophets were prophesying.

4And they completed these things by the decree of the Lord, the God of Israel, and with the approval of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of the Persians.

5The house was completed by the twenty-third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of King Darius.

6And the sons of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, and the rest from the captivity who had been brought back, did according to what is in the book of Moses.

7And they offered for the dedication of the house of the Lord one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs,

8twelve goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the twelve tribal leaders of Israel.

9And the priests and the Levites stood arrayed by divisions for the works of the Lord God of Israel, in accordance with the book of Moses, and the gatekeepers at each gate.

10And the sons of Israel from the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, when the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together.

11and all the sons of the captivity, because they had purified themselves. For all the Levites together had purified themselves, all of them,

12And they sacrificed the Passover for all the sons of the captivity, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.

13And the sons of Israel who were from the captivity ate, all those who had separated themselves from the abominations of the nations of the land, seeking the Lord.

14And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days, rejoicing before the Lord,

15because he had turned the counsel of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the Lord, the God of Israel.