The King Orders the Work to Cease

¹⁷ The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now

⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

^(A)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁶ “Claudius Lysias, to ^(A)his Excellency the governor Felix, ^(B)greetings.

⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ^(A)‘Peace be to this house!’

¹² “Artaxerxes, ^(A)king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the ^(B)scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace.^{[a] (C)}And now

⁷ They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace.

⁹ Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the ^(A)judges, the ^(B)governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the ^(C)Elamites, ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble ^(D)Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. ¹¹ (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

⁷ In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and ^(A)Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written ^(B)in Aramaic and translated.^[a]