Ezra 4
World English Bible
4 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel; 2 they came near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as you do; and we have been sacrificing to him since the days of Esar Haddon 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, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”
4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building. 5 They hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6 In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Syrian, and delivered in the Syrian language. 8 Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows; 9 then Rehum the chancellor, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River, and so forth, wrote.
11 This is the copy of the letter that they sent:
To King Artaxerxes,
From your servants the men beyond the River.
12 Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us to Jerusalem. They are building the rebellious and bad city, and have finished the walls, and repaired the foundations. 13 Be it known now to the king that if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not appropriate for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore we have sent and informed the king, 15 that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will see in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have started rebellions within it in the past. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and the walls finished, then you will have no possession beyond the River.
17 Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who live in Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River:
Peace.
18 The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. 19 I decreed, and search has been made, and it was found that this city has made insurrection against kings in the past, and that rebellion and revolts have been made in it. 20 There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll, was paid to them. 21 Make a decree now to cause these men to cease, and that this city not be built, until a decree is made by me. 22 Be careful that you not be slack doing so. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
23 Then when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them to cease by force of arms. 24 Then work stopped on God’s house which is at Jerusalem. It stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Ezra 4
Christian Standard Bible
Opposition to Rebuilding the Temple
4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin(A) heard that the returned exiles[a](B) were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the family heads and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to him[b] since the time King Esar-haddon of Assyria brought us here.”(C)
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of Israel’s families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God,(D) since we alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”(E) 4 Then the people who were already in the land[c] discouraged[d] the people of Judah and made them afraid(F) to build. 5 They also bribed officials to act against them to frustrate their plans(G) throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.(H)
Opposition to Rebuilding the City
6 At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus,(I) the people who were already in the land(J) wrote an accusation against the residents of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 During the time of King Artaxerxes of Persia,(K) Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to King Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic(L) and translated.[e]
8 Rehum the chief deputy and Shimshai the scribe(M) wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes concerning Jerusalem as follows:
9 From Rehum[f] the chief deputy, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues—the judges and magistrates[g] from Tripolis, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa(N) (that is, the people of Elam),[h] 10 and the rest of the peoples whom the great and illustrious Ashurbanipal[i] deported and settled in the cities of Samaria(O) and the region west of the Euphrates River.(P)
11 This is the text of the letter they sent to him:
To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men from the region west of the Euphrates River:
12 Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you have returned to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and evil city, finishing its walls, and repairing its foundations. 13 Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are finished,(Q) they will not pay tribute, duty, or land tax,(R) and the royal revenue[j] will suffer. 14 Since we have taken an oath of loyalty to the king,[k] and it is not right for us to witness his dishonor, we have sent to inform the king 15 that a search should be made in your predecessors’ record books.(S) In these record books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces. There have been revolts in it since ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will not have any possession west of the Euphrates.
Artaxerxes’s Reply
17 The king sent a reply to his chief deputy Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates River:
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent us has been translated and read[l](T) in my presence. 19 I issued a decree and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has had uprisings against kings since ancient times, and there have been rebellions and revolts in it. 20 Powerful kings have also ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates River, and tribute, duty, and land tax were paid to them. 21 Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a further decree has been pronounced by me.(U) 22 See that you not neglect this matter. Otherwise, the damage will increase and the royal interests[m] will suffer.
23 As soon as the text of King Artaxerxes’s letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues,(V) they immediately went to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
Rebuilding of the Temple Resumed
24 Now the construction of God’s house in Jerusalem had stopped and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.(W)
Footnotes
- 4:1 Lit the sons of the exile
- 4:2 Alt Hb tradition reads have not been sacrificing
- 4:4 Lit people of the land, also in v. 6
- 4:4 Lit weakened the hands of
- 4:7 Ezr 4:8–6:18 is written in Aramaic.
- 4:9 Lit Then Rehum
- 4:9 Or ambassadors
- 4:9 Aramaic obscure
- 4:10 Lit Osnappar
- 4:13 Aramaic obscure
- 4:14 Lit have eaten the salt of the palace
- 4:18 Or been read clearly
- 4:22 Lit the kings
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