以斯拉記 4
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
建殿工作受阻
4 猶大和便雅憫的敵人聽說流亡者回來要為以色列的上帝耶和華建殿， 2 就去見所羅巴伯和以色列的族長，對他們說：「請讓我們與你們一同建造，因為我們像你們一樣也尋求你們的上帝。自從亞述王以撒哈頓帶我們到這裡以後，我們就一直獻祭給上帝。」 3 所羅巴伯、耶書亞和以色列其餘的族長回答說：「你們不能參與建殿。遵照波斯王塞魯士的吩咐，我們要自己為以色列的上帝耶和華建殿。」
4 於是，當地人阻撓猶大人，使他們不敢建殿， 5 從波斯王塞魯士統治年間，一直到波斯王大流士統治期間，當地人收買謀士，破壞他們的計劃。
阻擾重建耶路撒冷
6 亞哈隨魯統治初期，他們寫信控告猶大和耶路撒冷的居民。
7 波斯王亞達薛西統治年間，比施蘭、米特利達、他別及其同黨上奏亞達薛西。奏章是用亞蘭文寫的，經過翻譯後呈上。 8 利宏省長和伸帥書記也寫了奏本給亞達薛西王，控告耶路撒冷人，內容如下： 9 「利宏省長、伸帥書記和我們的同僚底拿人、亞法薩提迦人、他毗拉人、亞法撒人、亞基衛人、巴比倫人、書珊迦人、底亥人、以攔人， 10 以及偉大尊貴的亞斯那巴遷來並安置在撒瑪利亞各城與幼發拉底河西一帶的人民， 11 上奏亞達薛西王，
「『幼發拉底河西的臣民奏告亞達薛西王， 12 王該知道，從王那裡到我們這裡來的猶太人已經去了耶路撒冷，如今正在重建這座叛逆、罪惡之城，正在重建地基，修築城牆。 13 王該知道，如果這城建好，城牆完工，他們將不再進貢、交賦、納稅，王的稅收必受虧損。 14 我們既食王祿，就不能坐視王遭受損失，因此上奏於王。 15 請王查看先王的記錄，必從中獲悉這城是叛逆之城，危害列王和各省。自古以來，城中叛亂不斷，因此才被毀滅。 16 我們願王知道，這城一旦建好，城牆完工，幼發拉底河西之地就不再為王所有了。』」
17 王回覆利宏省長、伸帥書記及其住在撒瑪利亞與幼發拉底河西一帶的同僚，說：「願你們平安！ 18 你們呈上的奏章，經過翻譯已奏報給我。 19 我已命人查考，發現這城自古以來屢屢背叛列王，是悖逆和叛亂之地。 20 強大的君王曾經統管耶路撒冷和幼發拉底河西全境，並向人們徵收貢物和賦稅。 21 現在你們要下令讓這些人停止建造這城，等候我的諭旨。 22 要認真辦理這事，不可遲延，何必容事情惡化，使王受虧損呢？」
23 利宏、伸帥書記及其同僚接到諭旨後，急忙趕往耶路撒冷，用武力強迫猶太人停工。
恢復建殿工作
24 於是，耶路撒冷上帝殿的重建工程停止了，一直停到波斯王大流士第二年。
Ezra 4
EasyEnglish Bible
Enemies try to stop the work
4 The Israelites who had returned to Jerusalem from exile were building the temple for the Lord, Israel's God. The enemies of the people of Judah and Benjamin heard that the Israelites had begun to build.[a] 2 They went to speak to Zerubbabel and to the leaders of the Israelite families. They said, ‘Let us help you to build the temple. We also want to worship your God. We have lived in this country since Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, brought us here. All this time we have made sacrifices to your God.’
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the other leaders of Israel's people said, ‘No. You cannot help us to build the temple for our God. We must build it by ourselves for the Lord, Israel's God. That is what Cyrus, king of Persia, has commanded us to do.’
4 Then the people who lived near them tried to make Judah's people afraid. They tried to stop them building. 5 They paid bribes to government officers to work against the Israelite builders. Then they could not do the work. They continued to do this all the time that King Cyrus ruled Persia, until Darius became king.
More trouble for the Jews
6 When Xerxes became king of Persia, Judah's enemies wrote a letter to him.[b] They said that the people who lived in Jerusalem and the rest of Judah were doing a bad thing.
7 Later, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and their friends wrote a letter to him. They wrote it in the Aramaic language. People translated it for the king to understand. 8 Rehum, the city's ruler, and Shimshai, his officer, wrote this letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes. This is what it said:
9 Rehum, your ruler, and Shimshai, his officer, write this letter to you. The other officers who work with us also send this letter to you. They are the judges and other officers and leaders, together with the people who came here from Erech, Babylon and Susa (the Elamites).[c] 10 It also comes from people of other nations who came to live in Samaria's cities. The great King Ashurbanipal sent those people to live in Samaria and in the region that is on the west side of the River Euphrates.[d]
11 This is the letter that they sent to Artaxerxes:
‘To King Artaxerxes,
from your servants in the land west of the Euphrates river.
12 We want to tell the king what the Jews here are doing. They came here to Jerusalem from Babylon. Jerusalem has always been a bad city whose people do not obey their rulers. Now they are building the city again. They are building the city's walls and the foundations for other buildings.
13 So you should know that there will be trouble. If they build this city again, with its walls, they will not pay any more taxes to you. You will not receive any more money from them as their king. 14 We serve you as our king. We do not want you to lose honour. So we have sent this letter to you. 15 You should look for the books where your ancestors recorded news about Jerusalem. Then you will read many bad things about this city. You will see that its people have always turned against their rulers. Since long ago, they have not obeyed the kings or the region's officers. It is because they are so wicked that Babylon's army destroyed the city. 16 So we are telling the king that you should not let these people build up this city again, with its walls. If they do that, you will no longer have any authority in this region that is west of the Euphrates river.’
17 The king of Persia sent this reply:
‘To Rehum, my ruler, Shimshai, his officer, and all their friends in Samaria and in other parts of the region west of the Euphrates river. I thank you for your news.
18 People have translated the letter that you sent to me. They read it for me to listen to. 19 Then I commanded them to look in the old books. I have seen what the books say about Jerusalem. It is true that its people have always turned against the kings that ruled them. Since long ago, they have never obeyed their rulers. 20 In the past, powerful kings have ruled over Jerusalem and all the region west of the Euphrates river. They received many kinds of taxes from the people there. 21 Now you must command these people to stop their work. They must not build the city again until I decide to let them do it. 22 You must be very careful to make sure that they stop. We do not want the danger to our kingdom to become any greater. Our authority to rule them as kings must continue.’
23 Rehum, his officer, Shimshai, and their friends heard what the king's letter said. So they immediately took it to the Jews in Jerusalem. They used their power to command the Jews to stop their work.
24 So the people did no more work on God's temple in Jerusalem. The work stopped until the second year that King Darius ruled Persia.
Footnotes
- 4:1 Judah and Benjamin were the two Israelite tribes that had been taken to Babylon as prisoners. Now they had returned to Jerusalem and the other towns of their home country.
- 4:6 Xerxes was the son of King Darius. He was also called Ahasuerus. In this part of his book, Ezra is describing things that happened later, after the temple had been built. Now they were building the city's walls (verse 12).
- 4:9 Elamites were people who lived in a country east of Israel.
- 4:10 The kings of Assyria moved prisoners to go and live a long way from their homes. Foreign people had come to live in Samaria, which had been part of Israel's kingdom. The Assyrians did not want the Israelites to take back the land for themselves.
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