Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Green's Literal Translation

Ezra 5:16

Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem. And from then even until now it has been building, but is not finished.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Sheshbazzar;   Temple;   Zerubbabel;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Temple, the Second;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Persia;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Cyrus;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Sheshbazzar;   Zerubbabel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Sheshbazzar;   Zechariah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Darius;   Nehemiah, Book of;   Sheshbazzar;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Dates (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Sheshbazzar ;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Babylonish Captivity, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Epistle;   Haggai;   Sanabassar;   Zerubbabel;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Captivity;   Persia;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of God’s house in Jerusalem. It has been under construction from that time until now, but it has not been completed.
Hebrew Names Version
Then came the same Sheshbatztzer, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Yerushalayim: and since that time even until now has it been in building, and yet it is not completed.
King James Version
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.
English Standard Version
Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.'
New Century Version
So Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. From that day until now the work has been going on, but it is not yet finished."
New English Translation
Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.'
Amplified Bible
'Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and is not yet completed.'
New American Standard Bible
'Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is not yet completed.'
World English Bible
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now has it been in building, and yet it is not completed.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then came the same Sheshbazzar & layde the foundation of the house of God, which is in Ierusalem, and since that time euen vntill nowe, hath it bene in buylding, yet is it not finished.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it is being rebuilt, and it is not yet finished.'
Berean Standard Bible
So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, but is not yet completed."
Contemporary English Version
Sheshbazzar then went to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for the temple, and the work is still going on.
Complete Jewish Bible
So this same Sheshbatzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Yerushalayim; it has been under construction ever since, and it isn't finished yet.
Darby Translation
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, [and] laid the foundation of the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and since that time even until now has it been in building, and it is not completed.
Easy-to-Read Version
So Sheshbazzar came and built the foundations of God's Temple in Jerusalem. From that day until now, the work has continued, but it is not yet finished.
George Lamsa Translation
Then the same Sheshmazzar came and laid the foundation of this temple which is in Jerusalem; and since that time even until now it has been in building, and yet it is not finished.
Good News Translation
So Sheshbazzar came and laid its foundation; construction has continued from then until the present, but it is still not finished.'
Lexham English Bible
Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem. And from that time until now it is being built, but not yet finished.'
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then came the same Se?bazar, and layed ye foundacion of the house of God at Ierusalem. Sence that tyme hath it bene in buyldinge, and yet is it not fynished.
American Standard Version
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not completed.
Bible in Basic English
Then this same Sheshbazzar came and put the house of God in Jerusalem on its bases: and from that time till now the building has been going on, but it is still not complete.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then came the same Sasbazar, and layed the foundation of the house of God which is at Hierusalem: Since that time also vntill nowe hath it ben in building, and yet is it not finished.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not completed.
King James Version (1611)
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God, which is in Ierusalem. And since that time, euen vntill now, hath it bin in building, & yet it is not finished.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Then that Sabanazar came, and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem: and from that time even until now it has been building, and has not been finished.
English Revised Version
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not completed.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor thanne thilke Sasabazar cam, and settide the foundementis of Goddis temple in Jerusalem; and fro that tyme `til to now it is bildid, and is not yit fillid.
Update Bible Version
Then the same Sheshbazzar came, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now it has been in building, and yet it is not completed.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, [and] laid the foundation of the house of God which [is] in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and [yet] it is not finished.
New King James Version
Then the same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; but from that time even until now it has been under construction, and it is not finished."
New Living Translation
So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. The people have been working on it ever since, though it is not yet completed.'
New Life Bible
Then Sheshbazzar came and began building the house of God in Jerusalem. The building has been going on from then until now, and it is not yet finished.'
New Revised Standard
Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from that time until now it has been under construction, and it is not yet finished.'
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then, this Sheshbazzar, came, he laid the foundations of the house of God, which was in Jerusalem, - and, since then, even until now, it hath been in building, and is not finished.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Then came this same Sassabasar, and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it is in building, and is not yet finished.
Revised Standard Version
Then this Shesh-baz'zar came and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.'
Young's Literal Translation
Then hath this Sheshbazzar come -- he hath laid the foundations of the house of God that [is] in Jerusalem, and from thence even till now it hath been building, and is not finished.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is not yet completed.'

Contextual Overview

3 At that time Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-boznai, and their associates, came to them, and said this to them: Who has commanded you to build this house and to complete this structure? 4 Then we spoke to them in this way, What are they, the names of the men building this building? 5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they could not cause them to stop until the matter came to Darius. And then they sent back a letter concerning this. 6 The copy of the letter which Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-boznai, and his associates the officials who were Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king: 7 They sent a letter to him, and this was written in it: To Darius the king, all peace. 8 Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, and it is being built with rolling stones, and timber is being laid in the walls, and thatwork is being done perfectly, and is prosperingin their hands. 9 Then we asked those elders, saying this to them, Who commanded you to rebuild this house, and to complete this structure? 10 And we also asked their names in order to inform you so that we might write the names of the men who are at their heads. 11 And they returned the answer to us this way, saying, We are servants of the God of Heaven and earth. And we are rebuilding the house that was built many years before this, and the great king of Israel built it and finished it. 12 But because our fathers had provoked to wrath the God of Heaven, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, and he tore down this house, and he exiled its people to Babylon.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Sheshbazzar: Ezra 5:14

laid: Ezra 5:2, Ezra 3:8, Ezra 3:10, Haggai 1:12-14, Haggai 2:18, Zechariah 4:10, am 3468-3485, bc 536-519

it is not finished: Ezra 6:15

Reciprocal: Ezra 1:8 - Sheshbazzar Zechariah 4:9 - have

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem,.... Which makes it clear, that by Sheshbazzar is meant Zerubbabel; for he it was that laid the foundation of the temple, or at least by whose order it was laid, see Zechariah 4:9

and since that time even until now; from the first of Cyrus to the second of Darius, a space of about eighteen years, and just seventy from the destruction of the temple:

hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished; the work going on slowly, not without interruption and intermission, through the enmity of the Samaritans unto them, who had made false representations of them; but these men, Tatnai and those with him, as the Jews gave them a very particular account of things, as above, so they fairly and fully related them in this their letter to the king.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Since that time even until now - Sixteen years - from 536 B.C. to 520 B.C. The adversaries of the Jews here overstep the truth; since, in point of fact, the work had been suspended for a while Ezra 4:24.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 16. Sheshbazzar — Probably the military officer that conducted the people from Babylon, and had the oversight of the work; but some think that Ezra is meant.


 
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