¹⁵ The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.^(A)

¹⁶ Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication^(B) of the house of God with joy. ¹⁷ For the dedication of this house of God they offered^(C) a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering^[a] for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ And they installed the priests in their divisions^(D) and the Levites in their groups^(E) for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.^(F)

Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem

²⁷ At the dedication^(A) of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals,^(B) harps and lyres.^(C)