After Daniel walked out of the lions' den unharmed, the king returned with him to the palace and issued an extraordinary declaration. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, Darius proclaimed throughout his kingdom: "In all the land there is no god like the God of Daniel who performs miracles and wonders." He pledged silver and gold from his own treasury to rebuild the Temple in Judah.
Orders went out by runners and horsemen to every city, permitting the Jews to go up to Jerusalem. In the first year of Cyrus's reign over the Chaldeans, royal letters commanded the governors beyond the river to supply everything the builders needed: wood, stones, wheat, oil, wine, and livestock for sacrifices.
About forty thousand Jews rose up to make the journey, led by Ezra the priest and scribe, along with Eliakim the priest, Jeshua, Mordecai, and the other chiefs of the families of Judah and Benjamin. They crossed the river, arrived in Jerusalem, and began laying the foundation of the house of God.
But the work attracted enemies. Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian sent a poisonous letter to the kings of Media and Persia, warning that a rebuilt Jerusalem would become a threat to royal power. They argued that the Jews had always been strong and dangerous, and that Nebuchadnezzar had exiled them precisely for this reason. The letter reached the King of Persia, and the construction was halted until the second year of the reign of Darius.