¹⁷ The king sent a reply: “To Rehum the royal officer, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and the rest of the province Beyond the River, greetings. And now ¹⁸ the letter that you sent to us has been translated and read before me. ¹⁹ And I issued^[a] a decree, and they searched and found that this city from ancient days revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition has been made in it. ²⁰ Mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, duty, and tax has been given. ²¹ So now, issue forth a decree that these men stop and this city not be built, until a decree is issued from me. ²² And be careful not to be negligent on this matter. Why should damage grow to hurt kings?”

²³ Then when a copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates they returned in a hurry to Jerusalem against the Jews and they stopped them by force and power. ²⁴ Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.