A free printable Bible study for your group.

Want everyone to read Ezra 6 during the week, answer privately, and see every answer appear together when you meet? That's Favor. Start your free week or see the Ezra 6 Bible study.

Bible study · Ezra 6:1-22

Ezra 6: Built and finished

Read Ezra 6:1-22 before you meet.

In a few lines

Ezra 6 says the house was finished "according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia" (6:14). In the Aramaic, God's commandment and the kings' decree are two words Brown-Driver-Briggs lists under one entry, and the verse names God's first.

The verse to carry

“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.”

Ezra 6:16

To talk about

  1. 1. The elders "built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah" (6:14). Whose words from God have kept you building when you would have stopped, and how could you pass that kind of word on to someone this week?

  2. 2. Darius's decree gave the offerings so that they could "pray for the life of the king and of his sons" (6:10). Who has authority over you, at work, in your town or in your country, that you could pray for this week, including people you didn't choose?

  3. 3. At the foundation there was weeping and joy mixed together (Ezra 3:12-13); at the finish the chapter names only joy, and says "the LORD had made them joyful" (6:22). Where are you right now, between a start and a finish, and what would it look like to thank God along the way?

Prayer requests