Ezra 4

Common English Bible

Facing opposition

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, ²they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the families and said to them, “Let’s build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we’ve been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Assyria’s King Esarhaddon, who brought us here.”

³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the families in Israel replied, “You’ll have no part with us in building a house for our God. We alone will build because the Lord, the God of Israel, and Persia’s King Cyrus commanded us.”

⁴The neighboring peoples^[a] discouraged the people of Judah, made them afraid to build, ⁵and bribed officials to frustrate their plan. They did this throughout the rule of Persia’s King Cyrus until the rule of Persia’s King Darius.

Writing to King Artaxerxes

⁶In the rule of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his rule, they composed an indictment against those who lived in Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their associates wrote to Persia’s King Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.^[b] ⁸Rehum the royal deputy and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter concerning Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

⁹From Rehum the royal deputy and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues, the judges, the administrators, the officials, the Persians, the people of Erech, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, the Elamites), ¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and famous Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River.

(¹¹This is a copy of the letter they sent to him.)

To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the people of the province Beyond the River. ¹²May it be known to the king that the Jews who left you and came to us have arrived in Jerusalem. They are rebuilding the rebellious and wicked city; they are completing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³May it be known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls completed, they will not pay tribute or tax or dues, and the royal revenue will be reduced.

¹⁴Since we receive our salary from the palace,^[c] and since it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, we now send this letter^[d] and inform the king ¹⁵so that you may search the records of your ancestors. You will discover in the records that this is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, and that it has been in revolt over a long period of time. As a result, this city was laid waste. ¹⁶We tell the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.

Artaxerxes responds

¹⁷The king sent this answer:

Greetings to Rehum the royal deputy and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and elsewhere in the province Beyond the River. ¹⁸The entire letter that you sent to us has been read in translation for me. ¹⁹I issued an order; they searched and discovered that this city has revolted against kings over a long period of time. There has been much rebellion and revolt there. ²⁰However, there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem who also ruled over the whole province Beyond the River. Tribute and taxes and dues were paid to them.

²¹Therefore, issue an order to stop these people: this city is not to be rebuilt until I make a decree. ²²Be sure to carry out this order! Why should danger grow and threaten the king?

²³When the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they hurried to Jerusalem to oppose the Jews and made them stop by force of arms.^[e] ²⁴At that time the work on God’s house in Jerusalem stopped and was suspended until the second year of the rule of Persia’s King Darius.