Ezra 4
New American Standard Bible
Enemies Hinder the Work
4 Now when (A)the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that (B)the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for like you, we seek your God; (C)and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of (D)Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” 3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “(E)You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build for the Lord God of Israel, (F)just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”
4 Then (G)the people of the land [a]discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, 5 and bribed advisers against them to frustrate their advice all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 Now in the reign of [b](H)Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of [c]Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the [d]text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated (I)from Aramaic.
The Letter to King Artaxerxes
8 [e]Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows— 9 [f]Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and (J)the rest of their colleagues, the judges and (K)the lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations which the great and honorable [g]Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region beyond the Euphrates River. (L)And now 11 this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him:
“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men of the region beyond the Euphrates River; and now 12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding (M)the rebellious and evil city and (N)are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, (O)they will not pay tribute, custom tax, or toll, and it will [h]be detrimental to the revenue of the kings. 14 Now because we [i]are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s shame, for this reason we have sent word and informed the king, 15 so that a search may be conducted in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and detrimental to kings and provinces, and that they have revolted within it in past days; for this reason that city was laid waste. 16 We are informing the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished, then as a result of this you will have no possession in the province beyond the Euphrates River.”
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 [j](P)translated and read before me. 19 And a decree has been [k]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 (Q)that mighty kings have [l]ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces (R)beyond the Euphrates River, and that (S)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.
Footnotes
- Ezra 4:4 Lit slackened the hands of
- Ezra 4:6 Or Xerxes; Heb Ahash-verosh
- Ezra 4:7 Heb Artah-shashta
- Ezra 4:7 Lit writing
- Ezra 4:8 Chs 4:8-6:18 are in Aram
- Ezra 4:9 Uncertain, MT Then Rehum
- Ezra 4:10 I.e., prob. Ashurbanipal
- Ezra 4:13 Or certainly be...to the kings
- Ezra 4:14 Lit eat the salt of
- Ezra 4:18 Lit clearly read
- Ezra 4:19 Lit put forth
- Ezra 4:20 Lit been
Ezra 4
International Standard Version
A Plot to Hinder the Work
4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the descendants of the Babylonian[a] captivity had built their Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families[b] with this message: “Let’s build along with you, because, like you, we seek your God, as do you, and we’ve been making sacrifices to him since the reign of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the families[c] of Israel replied, “You have no part in our plans for[d] building a temple to our God, because we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, in accordance with the decree issued by King Cyrus, king of Persia.”
The Plot Succeeds—for a While
4 After this, the non-Israeli inhabitants[e] of the land undermined[f] the people of Judah, harassing them in their construction work 5 by bribing their consultants in order to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia until Darius became king.[g]
6 At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus, they lodged a formal accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 While Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their co-conspirators wrote in the Aramaic language and script to King Artaxerxes of Persia.
Aramaic:[h]
8 Governor Rehum and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter concerning Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
9 From Governor Rehum
Shimshai the scribe
The rest of their colleagues—
Judges, envoys, officials, Persians, the people of Erech, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, the Elamites) 10 and many other nations whom the great and honorable Osnappar deported and resettled in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the Euphrates[i] River.
11 This is the text of the letter they sent.
To: King Artaxerxes
From: Your servants, the men of the province beyond the Euphrates[j] River.
12 May the king be advised that the Jews who came from you to us have reached Jerusalem and are rebuilding a rebellious and wicked city, having completed its walls and repaired its foundations.
13 May the king be further advised that if this city is rebuilt and its walls erected, its citizens[k] will refuse to pay tributes, taxes, and tariffs, thereby restricting royal revenues.
14 Now, because we are royal employees[l] and are committed to preserving the reputation of the king, we have written to the king and have declared its contents to be true,[m] 15 urging[n] that a search may be made in the official registers of your predecessors.[o] You will discover in the registers that[p] 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[q] River.
The Response of Ahasuerus
17 The king replied:
To: Governor Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues living in Samaria, and the remainder living beyond the Euphrates[r] River.
Greetings:[s]
18 The memorandum you sent to us has been read and carefully considered.[t] 19 Pursuant to my edict, an investigation has been undertaken. It is noted that this city has fomented rebellion against kings from time immemorial, and that rebellion and sedition has occurred in it.
20 Powerful kings have reigned over Jerusalem, including ruling over all lands beyond the Euphrates[u] River. Furthermore, taxes, tribute, and tolls have been paid to them.
21 Accordingly, issue an order to force these men to cease their work[v] so that this city is not rebuilt until you receive further notice from me.
22 Be diligent and take precautions so that you do not neglect your responsibility in this matter. Why should the kingdom sustain any more damage?
Reconstruction Ceases
23 As soon as a copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, to Shimshai the scribe, and to their colleagues, they traveled quickly to Jerusalem and compelled the Jews to cease by force of arms. 24 As a result, work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem ceased and did not begin again until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.
Footnotes
- Ezra 4:1 The Heb. lacks Babylonian
- Ezra 4:2 Lit. fathers
- Ezra 4:3 Lit. fathers
- Ezra 4:3 The Heb. lacks plans for
- Ezra 4:4 Lit. the people
- Ezra 4:4 Lit. weakened the hands of
- Ezra 4:5 Lit. until the reign of Darius, king of Persia
- Ezra 4:7 From this point through 6:18, the text of MT is in Aramaic.
- Ezra 4:10 The Aram. lacks Euphrates
- Ezra 4:11 The Aram. lacks Euphrates
- Ezra 4:13 Lit. erected, they
- Ezra 4:14 Lit. we received salt from the palace
- Ezra 4:14 Lit. and certified to the king
- Ezra 4:15 The Aram. lacks urging
- Ezra 4:15 Lit. fathers
- Ezra 4:15 Lit. books and will know
- Ezra 4:16 The Aram. lacks Euphrates
- Ezra 4:17 The Aram. lacks Euphrates
- Ezra 4:17 Lit. Peace, and now.
- Ezra 4:18 Lit. been read plainly before me
- Ezra 4:20 The Aram. lacks Euphrates
- Ezra 4:21 The Aram. lacks their work
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