Ezra 4:8-23

New King James Version

⁸^[a]Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion:

⁹^[b]From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions—representatives of ^(A)the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the people of Persia and Erech and Babylon and ^[c]Shushan, the Dehavites, the Elamites, ¹⁰^(B)and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnapper took captive and settled in the cities of Samaria and the remainder beyond ^[d]the River—^(C)and^[e] so forth.

¹¹(This is a copy of the letter that they sent him.)

To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men of the region beyond the River, ^[f]and so forth:

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem, and are building the ^(D)rebellious and evil city, and are finishing its ^(E)walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³Let it now be known to the king that, if this city is built and the walls completed, they will not pay ^(F)tax, tribute, or custom, and the king’s treasury will be diminished. ¹⁴Now because we receive support from the palace, it was not proper for us to see the king’s dishonor; therefore we have sent and informed the king, ¹⁵that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. And you will find in the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city in former times, for which cause this city was destroyed.

¹⁶We inform the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the result will be that you will have no dominion beyond the River.

¹⁷The king sent an answer:

To Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and to the remainder beyond the River:

Peace, ^[g]and so forth.

¹⁸The letter which you sent to us has been clearly read before me. ¹⁹And ^[h]I gave the command, and a search has been made, and it was found that this city in former times has revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition have been fostered in it. ²⁰There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ^(G)ruled over all the region ^(H)beyond the River; and tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them. ²¹Now ^[i]give the command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until the command is given by me.

²²Take heed now that you do not fail to do this. Why should damage increase to the hurt of the kings?

²³Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease.

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Footnotes

Ezra 4:8 The original language of Ezra 4:8 through 6:18 is Aramaic.
Ezra 4:9 Lit. Then
Ezra 4:9 Or Susa
Ezra 4:10 The Euphrates
Ezra 4:10 Lit. and now
Ezra 4:11 Lit. and now
Ezra 4:17 Lit. and now
Ezra 4:19 Lit. by me a decree has been put forth
Ezra 4:21 put forth a decree

Nehemiah 1-2

New King James Version

Nehemiah Prays for His People

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah.

It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the ^(B)twentieth year, as I was in ^(C)Shushan^[a] the ^[b]citadel, ²that ^(D)Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. ³And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the ^(E)province are there in great distress and ^(F)reproach. ^(G)The wall of Jerusalem ^(H)is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”

⁴So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

⁵And I said: “I pray, ^(I)Lord God of heaven, O great and ^(J)awesome God, ^(K)You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love ^[c]You and observe ^[d]Your commandments, ⁶please let Your ear be attentive and ^(L)Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and ^(M)confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. ⁷^(N)We have acted very corruptly against You, and have ^(O)not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. ⁸Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ^(P)‘If you ^[e]are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; ⁹^(Q)but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, ^(R)though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ ¹⁰^(S)Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. ¹¹O Lord, I pray, please ^(T)let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who ^(U)desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

For I was the king’s ^(V)cupbearer.

Nehemiah Sent to Judah

2 And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of ^(W)King ^[f]Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that ^(X)I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. ²Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but ^(Y)sorrow of heart.”

So I became ^[g]dreadfully afraid, ³and said to the king, ^(Z)“May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when ^(AA)the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with ^(AB)fire?”

⁴Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”

So I ^(AC)prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”

⁶Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him ^(AD)a time.

⁷Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the ^(AE)governors of the region beyond ^[h]the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, ⁸and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the ^[i]citadel which pertains ^(AF)to the ^[j]temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me ^(AG)according to the good hand of my God upon me.

⁹Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. ¹⁰When ^(AH)Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[k]official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel.

Nehemiah Views the Wall of Jerusalem

¹¹So I ^(AI)came to Jerusalem and was there three days. ¹²Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode. ¹³And I went out by night ^(AJ)through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the ^[l]Refuse Gate, and ^[m]viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were ^(AK)broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. ¹⁴Then I went on to the ^(AL)Fountain Gate and to the ^(AM)King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. ¹⁵So I went up in the night by the ^(AN)valley,^[n] and ^[o]viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. ¹⁶And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.

¹⁷Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies ^[p]waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be ^(AO)a reproach.” ¹⁸And I told them of ^(AP)the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me.

So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they ^(AQ)set^[q] their hands to this good work.

¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(AR)Will you rebel against the king?”

²⁰So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, ^(AS)but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”