Moreover I make a decree of what you shall do for the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, without delay expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.
Read Chapter 6
Bede
AD 735
The sequence of events in the text is as if Darius himself had read Cyrus’s letter and, having perused it, immediately endorsed it with his authority, in such a way that suppressing all their adversaries, he ordered the temple of God to be rebuilt on its site just as the letter said, and himself, with a most devout mind in all things, assisted God’s worshipers to serve his will. Let Artaxerxes, therefore, who above forbade that the house or city of God be built, designate those lords of worldly affairs who by inciting persecutions opposed the construction of the holy church, while in the upheaval of these persecutions that church flourished chiefly by the triumph of martyrs. Let Darius designate the dutiful devotion of those kings who, recognizing the will of God, endeavored not only not to resist the Christian faith but also to assist it with their decrees; and many of them, forbidding the persecutions of their predecessors, wished that they themselves along with the people under thei...
