The King Replies and Work Stops

¹⁷ Then the king sent a response to Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River: “Peace. And now, ¹⁸ the document which you sent to us has been ^[a](A)translated and read before me. ¹⁹ And a decree has been ^[b]issued by me, and a search has been conducted and it has been discovered that that city has risen up against the kings in past days, and that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it, ^20 (B)that mighty kings have ^[c]ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces ^(C)beyond the Euphrates River, and that ^(D)tribute, custom tax, and toll were paid to them. ²¹ Now issue a decree to make those men stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. ²² And beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter; why should there be great damage, to the detriment of the kings?”

²³ Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ decree was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in a hurry to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by military force.

²⁴ Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem was discontinued, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.