Ezra 6:13-18
God completes His restoration work through obedient leaders, faithful prophetic encouragement, and ordered worship, bringing His people from halted rebuilding to joyful dedication of His house.
13 Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their companions did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the king had sent a decree.
14 The 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.
15 This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16 The 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.
17 They 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.
18 They 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.
God completes His restoration work through obedient leaders, faithful prophetic encouragement, and ordered worship, bringing His people from halted rebuilding to joyful dedication of His house.
To show that Darius’s confirmed decree is obeyed, the temple is completed through prophetic encouragement and divine command, and the restored community dedicates the house of God with ordered worship according to the Law of Moses.
This unit concludes the narrative outcome of Darius's confirmed decree (Ezra 6:1-12). The inquiry and potential threat posed by regional officials becomes prompt compliance (v.13), the rebuilding advances through prophetic prophesying (v.14), the temple is completed on a dated milestone (v.15), and the community dedicates the house with sacrifices and restored worship order (vv.16-18). The following unit (Ezra 6:19-22) transitions from dedication to Passover and Unleavened Bread celebration as a further expression of restored worship.
This passage closes the Aramaic administrative section that began in Ezra 4:8. After Darius confirms Cyrus’s decree and commands support for the rebuilding, Tattenai, Shethar-Bozenai, and their associates obey promptly. The temple is completed on the third day of Adar in the sixth year of Darius. The returned community dedicates it with offerings and organizes priests and Levites for service according to the Book of Moses.