Ezra 4:22-24

Easy-to-Read Version

²²Be careful not to overlook this matter. We should not let the building of Jerusalem continue. If that work continues, I will not get any more money from Jerusalem.

²³So a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes sent was read to Rehum, Shimshai the secretary, and the people with them. They went very quickly to the Jews in Jerusalem and forced them to stop building.

The Work on the Temple Stopped

²⁴So the work stopped^[a] on God’s Temple in Jerusalem. The work did not continue until the second year^[b] that Darius was king of Persia.

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Footnotes

Ezra 4:24 the work stopped Here, this refers to the time of Xerxes, when work on the Temple was stopped, not to the time of Artaxerxes, when work on the walls around Jerusalem was stopped.
Ezra 4:24 second year That is, 520 B.C.