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Adversaries Discourage the Work

Then (A)the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that (B)the people of the exile were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel, so they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; (C)and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of (D)Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “(E)You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, (F)as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”

So (G)the people of the land [a]discouraged the people of Judah and dismayed them from building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 4:4 Lit made the hands limp

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple unto Jehovah, the God of Israel; then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ houses, and said unto them, Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; [a]and we sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us in building a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and [b]troubled them in building, and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 4:2 Another reading is, yet we do not sacrifice since etc.
  2. Ezra 4:4 Or, terrified