Ezra 4

1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the exile were building the temple unto the Lord the God of Israel:

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

2 Then came they near to Zerubbabel, and to the chiefs of the divisions, and said unto them, Let us build with you; for like you will we seek your God; and unto him do we sacrifice since the days of Essar-chaddon the king of Asshur, who hath brought us up hither.

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.

3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua', and the rest of the of the divisions of Israel, said unto them, It is not obligatory on you and on us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together must build unto the Lord the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

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.

4 Then did the people of the land weaken the hands of the people of Judah, and frightened them off from building;

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

5 And they hired against them counsellors, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus the king of Persia, and even until the reign of Darius the king of Persia.

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.

6 And in the reign of Achashverosh, in the beginning of his reign they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

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

7 And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes the king of Persia: and the writing of the letter was written in Aramic, and interpreted in Aramic.

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.

8 Rechum the counsellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a certain letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king, as followeth:

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

9 Then [wrote] Rechum the counsellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, from Din, and Apharsathach, Tarpel, Apharass, Erech, Babylon, Shushan, Dehav, and 'Elam,

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,

10 And the rest of the nations whom the great and honored Assnapper had brought into exile, and settled in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and so forth.

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.

11 This is the copy of the letter which they sent unto him, even unto king Artaxerxes: Thy servants the men on this side the river, and so forth.

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

12 Be it made known unto the king, that the Jews who removed away from thee are come up to us unto Jerusalem: they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and are completing the walls, and are joining together the foundations.

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.

13 Be it now known unto the king, that, if this city be rebuilt, and the walls be completed, they will not give tax, tribute, and toll, and the royal revenues will suffer damage.

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.

14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not proper for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore have we sent and let the king know this:

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;

15 That search may be made in the book of the memorable events of thy fathers, and thou wilt find in the book of the memorable events, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have practised sedition within the same from the most ancient time; for which cause this city was destroyed.

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.

16 We let the king know that, if this city be rebuilt, and its walls be completed, by this means thou wilt have no more any portion on this side of the river.

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

17 Then sent the king a reply unto Rechum the counsellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest of those beyond the river, Peace, and so forth.

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,

18 The letter which ye have sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.

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

19 And an order was given by me, and search was made, and it was found that this city from the most ancient time hath lifted itself up against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been practised therein.

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.

20 And that mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over all the countries beyond the river; and that tax, tribute, and toll was given unto them.

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.

21 Now give ye the order to stop these men, and this city shall not be built, until the order be given from me.

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

22 Take heed now that ye commit no error in this: that not any injury may grow [out of this] to the damage of the kings.

[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.

23 Thereupon so soon as the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rechum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they did go up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and stopped them by force and power.

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.

24 Then was stopped the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem, and it remained interrupted until the second year of the reign of Darius the king of Persia.

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.