Ezra 4

1 And adversaries of Judah and Benjamin hear that the sons of the captivity are building a temple to YHWH, God of Israel,

Now the enemies of Judah and of Benjamin heard that the sons of the captivity were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel.

2 and they draw near to Zerubbabel, and to heads of the fathers, and say to them, “Let us build with you; for, like you, we seek to your God, and we are not sacrificing since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Asshur, who brought us up here.”

And so, drawing near to Zerubbabel and to the leaders of the fathers, they said to them: “Let us build with you, for we seek your God just as you do. Behold, we have immolated victims to him from the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

3 And Zerubbabel says to them, also Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel, “Not for you, and for us, to build a house to our God; but we ourselves together build to YHWH God of Israel, as King Cyrus, king of Persia, commanded us.”

And Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of the fathers of Israel said to them: “It is not for you to build the house of our God with us. Instead, we alone shall build to the Lord our God, just as Cyrus, the king of the Persians, has commanded us.”

4 And it comes to pass, the people of the land are making the hands of the people of Judah feeble, and troubling them in building,

Therefore, it happened that the people of the land impeded the hands of the people of Judah, and they troubled them in building.

5 and are hiring against them counselors to make void their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Then they hired counselors against them, so that they might argue against their plan during all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of the Persians.

6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the commencement of his reign, they have written an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem;

And so, during the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and of Jerusalem.

7 and in the days of Artaxerxes have Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions written to Artaxerxes king of Persia, and the writing of the letter is written in Aramaic, and interpreted in Aramaic.

And so, in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel, and the others who were in their council wrote to Artaxerxes, king of the Persians. Now the letter of accusation was written in Syriac, and was being read in the Syrian language.

8 Rehum counselor, and Shimshai scribe have written a letter concerning Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king, thus:

Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, wrote one letter from Jerusalem to king Artaxerxes, in this manner:

9 Then Rehum counselor, and Shimshai scribe, and the rest of their companions, Dinaites, and Apharsathchites, Tarpelites, Apharsites, Archevites, Babylonians, Susanchites (who are Elamites),

“Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, and the rest of their counselors, the judges, and rulers, the officials, those from Persia, from Erech, from Babylonia, from Susa, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,

10 and the rest of the nations that the great and honorable Asnapper removed and set in the city of Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, and at such a time:

and the rest of the nations, whom the great and glorious Osnappar transferred and caused to live in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the regions across the river in peace:

11 This [is] a copy of a letter that they have sent to him, to Artaxerxes the king: “Your servants, men beyond the river, and at such a time;

to king Artaxerxes. (This is a copy of the letter, which they sent to him.) Your servants, the men who are across the river, send a greeting.

12 be it known to the king, that the Jews who have come up from you to us, have come to Jerusalem, the rebellious and base city they are building, and the walls they have finished, and the foundations they join.

Let it be known to the king, that the Jews, who ascended from you to us, have arrived in Jerusalem, a rebellious and most wicked city, which they are building, constructing its ramparts and repairing the walls.

13 Now let it be known to the king, that if this city is built and the walls finished, that they do not give toll, tribute, and custom; and at length it causes loss [to] the kings.

And now let be it known to the king, that if this city will have been built up, and its walls repaired, they will not pay tribute, nor tax, nor yearly revenues, and this loss will affect even the kings.

14 Now because that the salt of the palace [is] our salt, and we have no patience to see the nakedness of the king, therefore we have sent and made known to the king;

But, remembering the salt that we have eaten in the palace, and because we are led to believe that it is a crime to see the king harmed, we have therefore sent and reported to the king,

15 so that he seeks in the scroll of the records of your fathers, and you find in the scroll of the records, and know, that this city [is] a rebellious city, and causing loss [to] kings and provinces, and makers of sedition [are] in its midst from the days of old, therefore this city has been ruined.

so that you may search in the books of the histories of your fathers, and you may find written in the records, and you may know that this city is a rebellious city, and that it is harmful to the kings and the provinces, and that wars were incited within it from the days of antiquity. For which reason also, the city itself was destroyed.

16 We are making known to the king that, if this city be built and the walls finished, by this means you have no portion beyond the river.”

We report to the king that if this city will have been built, and its walls repaired, you will have no possession across the river.”

17 The king has sent an answer to Rehum counselor, and Shimshai scribe, and the rest of their companions who are dwelling in Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, “Peace, and at such a time:

The king sent word to Rehum, the commander, and to Shimshai, the scribe, and to the rest who were in their council, to the inhabitants of Samaria, and to the others across the river, offering a greeting and peace.

18 The letter that you sent to us, explained, has been read before me,

“The accusation, which you have sent to us, has been read aloud before me.

19 and by me a decree has been made, and they sought, and have found that this city is lifting up itself against kings from the days of old, and rebellion and sedition is made in it,

And it was commanded by me, and they searched and found that this city, from the days of antiquity, has rebelled against the kings, and that seditions and battles have been incited within it.

20 and mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, even rulers over all beyond the river, and toll, tribute, and custom is given to them.

Then too, there have been very strong kings in Jerusalem, who also ruled over the entire region which is across the river. They have also taken tribute, and tax, and revenues.

21 Now make a decree to cause these men to cease, and this city is not built, until a decree is made by me.

Now therefore, hear the sentence: Prohibit those men, so that this city may be not built, until perhaps there may be further orders from me.

22 And beware of negligence in doing this; why does the hurt become great to the loss of the kings?”

See to it that you are not negligent in fulfilling this, otherwise, little by little, the evil may increase against the kings.”

23 Then from the time that a copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes is read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they have gone in haste to Jerusalem, to the Jews, and caused them to cease by force and strength;

And so a copy of the edict of king Artaxerxes was read before Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, and their counselors. And they went away hurriedly to Jerusalem, to the Jews. And they prohibited them by force and by strength.

24 then ceased the service of the house of God that [is] in Jerusalem, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Then the work of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem was interrupted, and it did not resume until the second year of the reign of Darius, the king of the Persians.