Ezra 4

1 And they that afflicted Juda and Benjamin heard, that the children of the captivity were building a house to the Lord God of Israel.

Now some enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people who had been exiled were now building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel.

2 And they drew near to Zorobabel, and to the heads of families, and said to them, We will build with you; for as you [do], we seek [to serve] our God, and we do sacrifice to him from the days of Asaradan king of Assur, who brought us hither.

So they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of their ancestors' clans. They said to them, “Let us build with you, for, like you, we seek your God and have sacrificed to him since the days when Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, brought us to this place.”

3 then Zorobabel, and Jesus and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel said to them, [It is] not for us and you to build a house to our God, for we ourselves will build together to the Lord our God, as Cyrus the king of the Persians commanded us.

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the heads of their ancestors' clans said, “It is not you, but we who must build the house of our God, for it is we who will build for Yahweh, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded.”

4 And the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Juda, and hindered them in building,

So the people of the land made the Judeans' hands weak; they made the Judeans afraid to build.

5 and [continued] hiring [persons] against them, plotting to frustrate their counsel, all the days of Cyrus king of the Persians, and until the reign of Darius king of the Persians.

They also bribed counselors to frustrate their plans. They did this during all of Cyrus' days and into the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6 And in the reign of Assuerus, even in the beginning of his reign, they wrote a letter against the inhabitants of Juda and Jerusalem.

Then at the beginning of Ahasuerus' reign they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

7 And in the days of Arthasastha, Tabeel wrote peaceably to Mithradates and to the rest of his fellow-servants: the tribute-gatherer wrote to Arthasastha king of the Persians a writing in the Syrian tongue, and [the same] interpreted.

It was during the days of Artaxerxes that Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their companions wrote to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.

8 Reum the chancellor, and Sampsa the scribe wrote an epistle against Jerusalem to King Arthasastha, [saying, ]

Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote this way to Artaxerxes about Jerusalem.

9 Thus has judged Reum the chancellor, and Sampsa the scribe, and the rest of our fellow-servants, the Dinaeans, the Apharsathachaeans, the Tarphalaeans, the Apharsaeans, the Archyaeans, the Babylonians, the Susanachaeans, Davaeans,

Then Rehum, Shimshai, and their companions, who were judges and other officers in the government, the Persians, men from Erech and Babylon, and the men from Susa (that is, the Elamites)—they wrote a letter—

10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Assenaphar removed, and settled them in the cities of Somoron, and the rest [of them] beyond the river.

and they were joined by the people whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal forced to settle in Samaria, along with the rest who were in the Province Beyond the River.

11 This [is] the purport of the letter, which they sent to him: Your servants the men beyond the river to king Arthasastha.

This is a copy of the letter that they sent to Artaxerxes: “Your servants, men of the Province Beyond the River, write this:

12 Be it known to the king, that the Jews who came up from you to us have come to Jerusalem the rebellious and wicked city, which they are building, and its walls are set in order, and they have established the foundations of it.

Let the king know that the Jews who went from you have come against us in Jerusalem to build a rebellious city. They have completed the walls and repaired the foundations.

13 Now then be it known to the king, that if that city be built up, and its walls completed, you shall have no tribute, neither will they pay [anything], and this injures kings.

Now let the king know that if this city is built and the wall is completed, they will not give any tribute and taxes, but they will harm the kings.

14 And it is not lawful for us to see the dishonour of the king: therefore have we sent and made known [the matter] to the king;

Surely because we have eaten the palace salt, it is not fitting for us to see any dishonor happen to the king. It is because of this that we are informing the king

15 That examination may be made in your fathers' book of record; and you shall find, and you shall know that city [is] rebellious, and does harm to kings and countries, and there are in the midst of it from very old time refuges for [runaway] slaves: therefore this city has been made desolate.

to search your father's record and to verify that this is a rebellious city that will harm kings and provinces. It has caused many problems to the kings and provinces. It has been a center for rebellion from long ago. It was for this reason that the city was destroyed.

16 We therefore declare to the king, that, if that city be built, and its walls be set up, you shall not have peace.

We are informing the king that if this city and wall are built, then there will be nothing remaining for you in the Province Beyond the River.”

17 Then the king sent to Reum the chancellor, and Sampsa the scribe, and the rest of their fellow-servants who lived in Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, [saying, ]Peace; and he says,

So the king sent out a reply to Rehum and Shimshai and their companions in Samaria and the rest who were in the Province Beyond the River: “May peace be yours.

18 The tribute-gatherer whom you sent to us, has been called before me.

The letter that you sent me has been translated and read to me.

19 And a decree has been made by me, and we have examined, and found that city of old time exalts itself against kings, and that rebellions and desertions take place within it.

So I ordered an investigation and discovered that in previous days they had rebelled and revolted against kings.

20 And there were powerful kings in Jerusalem, and they ruled over all the [country] beyond the river, and abundant revenues and tribute were given to them.

Mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and had power over everything in the Province Beyond the River. Tribute and taxes were paid to them.

21 Now therefore make a decree to stop the work of those men, and that city shall no more be built.

Now, make a decree for these men to stop and not build this city until I make a decree.

22 [See] that you be careful of the decree, [not] to be remiss concerning this matter, lest at any time destruction should abound to the harm of kings.

Be careful not to neglect this. Why allow this threat to grow and cause more loss for the royal interests?

23 Then the tribute-gatherer of king Arthasastha read [the letter] before Reum the chancellor, and Sampsa the scribe, and his fellow-servants: and they went in haste to Jerusalem and through Juda, and caused them to cease with horses and an [armed] force.

When King Artaxerxes' decree was read before Rehum, Shimshai, and their companions, they went out quickly to Jerusalem and forced the Jews to stop building.

24 Then ceased the work of the house of God in Jerusalem, and it was at a stand until the second year of the reign of Darius king of the Persians.

So the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.