Ezra 4

Modern

Literal

Adversaries Hinder the Work

¹When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,

¹And the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the captivity were building the temple of YHWH, God of Israel,

²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”

²and they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers and said to them, “Let us build with you, for like you, we seek your God, and to Him we have sacrificed since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up us here.”

³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”

³And Zerubbabel said to them, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel, “Nothing is to you and to us to build a house for our God, but we alone will build to YHWH, God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build.

⁴And it came to pass, the people of the land tried to make feeble the hands of the people of Judah, and they troubled them in building

⁵They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁵and hired against them counselors to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Opposition under Xerxes and Artaxerxes

⁶At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes,^a an accusation was lodged against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁶And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against those dwelling in Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.^a

⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes, wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabel, and the rest of his companions, to Artaxerxes king of Persia, and the letter was written in Aramaic and translated in Aramaic.

⁸Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

⁸Rehum the owner of the command and Shimshai the scribe wrote one letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, thus:

⁹From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates—the judges and officials over Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,

⁹Then Rehum the owner of the command, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, Dinaites, and Apharsathchites, Tarpelites, Apharsites, Archevites, Babylonians, Susanchites who are Elamite,

¹⁰and the rest of the peoples whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal^a deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and elsewhere west of the Euphrates.^b

¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and honorable Osnappar removed and settled them in the city of Samaria, and the remainder beyond the River, and now.

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

To King Artaxerxes,

From your servants, the men west of the Euphrates:

¹¹(This is a copy of the letter that they sent to him:) To Artaxerxes the king, from your servants, the men beyond the River, and now,

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.

¹²be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have come to Jerusalem; the rebellious and wicked city they are building, and its walls they are finishing, and the foundations they are repairing.

¹³Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.

¹³Now be it known to the king that if this city is built and the walls are completed, tax, tribute, and custom they will not pay, and the treasury of the king will be diminished.

¹⁴Now because we are in the service of the palace^a and it is not fitting for us to allow the king to be dishonored, we have sent to inform the king

¹⁴Now according to all that the salt of the palace is our salt, and the nakedness of the king it was not proper for us to see, on account of this we have sent and informed the king,

¹⁵that a search should be made of the record books of your fathers. In these books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, inciting sedition from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.

¹⁵that he may search in the book of the records of your fathers. And you will find in the book of the records, and you will know that this city is a rebellious city, causing loss to kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city from the days of old. On account of this was this city destroyed.

¹⁶We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will have no dominion west of the Euphrates.

¹⁶We are making known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, upon this, dominion beyond the River is not unto you.

The Decree of Artaxerxes

¹⁷Then the king sent this reply:

To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates:

Greetings.

¹⁷The king sent an answer: To Rehum the owner of the command, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria and the remainder beyond the River, Peace. And now,

¹⁸The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.

¹⁸the letter that you sent to us has been read clearly before me.

¹⁹I issued a decree, and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has revolted against kings from ancient times, engaging in rebellion and sedition.

¹⁹And I made a decree, and a search has been made, and it was found that this city in former times has revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition have been made in it.

²⁰And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.

²⁰And there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all beyond the River; and tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them.

²¹Now, therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.

²¹Now give the command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until a decree is made by me.

²²See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the royal interests to suffer?

²²And take heed of negligence to do upon this. Why should the damage become great to the harm of the kings?

²³When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

²³Then from the time that the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and made them cease by force and strength.

²⁴Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

²⁴Then ceased the work of the house of God that is in Jerusalem. And it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.