Ezra 3-4

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Worship Restored at Jerusalem

3 When the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. ² Then arose Jeshua the son of Jo′zadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerub′babel the son of She-al′ti-el with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. ³ They set the altar in its place, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. ⁴ And they kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as each day required, ⁵ and after that the continual burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of every one who made a freewill offering to the Lord. ⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. ⁷ So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sido′nians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Foundation Laid for the Temple

⁸ Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerub′babel the son of She-al′ti-el and Jeshua the son of Jo′zadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their brethren, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of the Lord. ⁹ And Jeshua with his sons and his kinsmen, and Kad′mi-el and his sons, the sons of Judah, together took the oversight of the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Hen′adad and the Levites, their sons and kinsmen.

¹⁰ And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel; ¹¹ and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy; ¹³ so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard afar.

Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple

4 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerub′babel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you; for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of E′sar-had′don king of Assyria who brought us here.” ³ But Zerub′babel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴ Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build,^{[a] 5} and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Dari′us king of Persia.

Rebuilding of Jerusalem Opposed

⁶ And in the reign of Ahasu-e′rus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷ And in the days of Ar-ta-xerx′es, Bishlam and Mith′redath and Tab′e-el and the rest of their associates wrote to Ar-ta-xerx′es king of Persia; the letter was written in Aramaic and translated.^{[b] 8} Rehum the commander and Shim′shai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Ar-ta-xerx′es the king as follows— ⁹ then wrote Rehum the commander, Shim′shai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnap′par deported and settled in the cities of Samar′ia and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, and now ¹¹ this is a copy of the letter that they sent—“To Ar-ta-xerx′es the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now ¹² be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³ Now be it known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. ¹⁴ Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, ¹⁵ in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We make known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

¹⁷ The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shim′shai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samar′ia and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now ¹⁸ the letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. ¹⁹ And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. ²⁰ And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. ²¹ Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. ²² And take care not to be slack in this matter; why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

²³ Then, when the copy of King Ar-ta-xerx′es’ letter was read before Rehum and Shim′shai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. ²⁴ Then the work on the house of God which is in Jerusalem stopped; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Dari′us king of Persia.