Ezra 4:14-16

International Standard Version

¹⁴ Now, because we are royal employees^[a] and are committed to preserving the reputation of the king, we have written to the king and have declared its contents to be true,^{[b] 15} urging^[c] that a search may be made in the official registers of your predecessors.^[d] You will discover in the registers that^[e] this city is a rebellious city, that it is damaging to both kings and provinces, that it has been moved to sedition from time immemorial, and that because of this it was destroyed.

¹⁶ We certify to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will lose your land holdings in the province beyond the Euphrates^[f] River.