Ezra 4:6-16

New American Standard Bible

⁶ Now in the reign of ^[a](A)Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷ And in the days of ^[b]Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the ^[c]text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated ^(B)from Aramaic.

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

^8 [d]Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows— ^9 [e]Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and ^(C)the rest of their colleagues, the judges and ^(D)the lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations which the great and honorable ^[f]Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region beyond the Euphrates River. ^(E)And now ¹¹ this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him:

“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men of the region beyond the Euphrates River; and now ¹² let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding ^(F)the rebellious and evil city and ^(G)are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³ Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, ^(H)they will not pay tribute, custom tax, or toll, and it will ^[g]be detrimental to the revenue of the kings. ¹⁴ Now because we ^[h]are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s shame, for this reason we have sent word and informed the king, ¹⁵ so that a search may be conducted in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and detrimental to kings and provinces, and that they have revolted within it in past days; for this reason that city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We are informing the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished, then as a result of this you will have no possession in the province beyond the Euphrates River.”