1 Pethimbo ndiyaka aahunganeki yaali, Haggai naSakaria yaIddo oya hunganeke medhina lyaKalunga kaIsrael ya lombwele Aajuda mboka ya kala muJuda naJerusalem. 2 Serubbabel yaShealtiel naJosua yaJehosadak sho yu uvu elaka lyawo oya tameke okutunga otempeli muJerusalem, naahunganeki mboka yaali oye ya kwatha.
3 Pethimbo ndyoka Tattenai, omunashikandjo shokuuninginino waEufrat, Shetar Bosenai naakwanepangelo ooyakwawo oye ya kuJerusalem e taa ti: “Olye e mu pe elaka, mu tunge otempeli nokutsakanitha omakuma?” 4 Oya pula wo omadhina gaamboka ya kwatha okutunga otempeli. 5 Ihe Kalunga okwa tonatele aawiliki yAajuda, naakwanepangelo Aapersia oya tokola okutegelela, sigo ya nyolele Darius noya mone eyamukulo lye. 6 Ehokololo ndyoka ye li tumu komupangeli, olyo ndi:
7 “Komupangeli Darius, lela nombili.
8 “Nkeyama, ou na okutseya kutya tse otwa yi moshilongo shaJuda notwa mono otempeli yaKalunga omunene tayi tungululwa nomamanya omanene nomiti tadhi tulwa momakuma. Iilonga otayi ende po nawa nesiloshimpwiyu e tayi humu ko.
9 “Otwa pula aawiliki yoshigwana, ye tu hokololele ngoka e ya pe uuthemba wokutungulula otempeli noku yi opaleka. 10 Otwe ya pula wo omadhina gawo, opo tu vule oku ku yelithila nawa kutya aawiliki yiilonga mbika oolye.
11 “Oya yamukula ya ti: ‘Otse aapiya yaKalunga kegulu nevi, notatu tungulula otempeli ndjoka ya li ya tungwa nale ya pwa komukwaniilwa omunankondo gwaIsrael. 12 Ihe molwaashoka ootatekulu ya geyitha Kalunga komegulu, okwe ya sinditha kuNebukadnezzar, omukwaniilwa Omukaldea gwaBabilon. Otempeli oya hanagulwa po naantu oya falwa muupika kuBabilon. 13 Ndele momumvo gwotango gwepangelo lyaKores, omupangeli gwaBabilon, Kores okwa gandja elaka, otempeli yi tungululwe. 14 Okwa gandja wo iiyuma yoshingoli noyoshisiliveli mbyoka Nebukadnezzar a li a kutha motempeli muJerusalem e te yi pungula motempeli yaBabilon. Kores okwa gandja iikwaniipangitho mbika komulumentu edhina lye Sheshbazzar e te mu langeke omunashikandjo muJuda. 15 Omupangeli okwe mu lombwele, e yi shune kotempeli kuJerusalem, noku tungulule otempeli mpoka ya li nale. 16 Sheshbazzar okwe ya e ta tula po omakankameno; okuza mpoka otaku tungwa ihe otempeli, ihe inayi pwa natango.’
17 “Ngashingeyi, ngele tashi ku opalele, Nkeyama, konakonitha momambo gondjokonona yuuwa muBabilon, ngele oKores a gandja elaka, otempeli yi tungululwe muJerusalem, ngoye u tu tseyithile shoka wa hala moshinima shika.”
1 Then the Lord God of Israel told the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to speak in his name to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And they did. 2 So Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest urged the people to start working on the temple again, and God's prophets encouraged them.
3 Governor Tattenai of Western Province and his assistant Shethar Bozenai got together with some of their officials. Then they went to Jerusalem and said to the people, “Who told you to rebuild this temple? 4 Give us the names of the workers!”
5 But God was looking after the Jewish leaders. So the governor and his group decided not to make the people stop working on the temple until they could report to Darius and get his advice.
6 Governor Tattenai, Shethar Bozenai, and their advisors sent a report to Darius, 7 which said:
King Darius, we wish you the best! 8 We went to Judah, where the temple of the great God is being built with huge stones and wooden beams set in the walls. Everyone is working hard, and the building is going up quickly.
9 We asked those in charge to tell us who gave them permission to rebuild the temple. 10 We also asked for the names of their leaders, so that we could write them down for you.
11 They claimed to be servants of the God who rules heaven and earth. And they said they were rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago by one of Israel's greatest kings.
12 We were told that their people had made God angry, and he let them be captured by Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who took them away as captives to Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar tore down their temple, 13-15 took its gold and silver articles, and put them in the temple of his own god in Babylon.
They also said that during the first year Cyrus was king of Babylonia, he gave orders for God's temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem where it had stood before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar governor of Judah and sent these gold and silver articles for him to put in the temple. 16 Sheshbazzar then went to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for the temple, and the work is still going on.
17 Your Majesty, please order someone to look up the old records in Babylonia and find out if King Cyrus really did give orders to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem. We will do whatever you think we should.
