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]

²⁶ Then ^(A)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and ^(B)Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in ^(C)Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

⁴ Then ^(A)the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,^{[a] (B)}“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”

¹¹ Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants ^(A)in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

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

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,

Tattenai's Letter to King Darius

⁶ This is a copy of the letter that ^(A)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the ^(B)governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king.