Esdras 4

The adversaries of Judah and Benjamin

¹The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for the LORD the God of Israel. ²So they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of families and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”^{a 3}But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel said to them, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God. We alone will build it for the LORD the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.” ⁴Then the people of the land set about discouraging the people of Judah and making them afraid to build, ⁵and they bribed officials against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶In the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the people living in Judah and Jerusalem.^b

⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic script and translated into Aramaic.^cd

⁸Rehum the chief officer and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows:^{e 9}Then Rehum the chief officer and Shimshai the scribe wrote, with the rest of their associates: the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the people of Erech, Babylon and Susa, the Dehavites, the Elamites,^{fg 10}and the rest of the peoples whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, and so on.^{h 11}This is a copy of the letter they sent to him: “To King Artaxerxes, from your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River. And now:

¹²Let the king know that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They have finished the walls and are repairing the foundations. ¹³Now let the king know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, they will not pay tribute, tax or duty, and in the end the royal revenue will suffer. ¹⁴Now because we are bound to the palace by salt, and it is not right for us to watch the king being dishonored, we have sent to inform the king, ¹⁵so that a search may be made in the record books of your predecessors. You will find in the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, a place of revolt from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. ¹⁶We are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will no longer have any possession in the province Beyond the River.”

The reply of King Artaxerxes

¹⁷The king sent this reply: “To Rehum the chief officer, Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River: Greetings. And now:

¹⁸The letter you sent us has been read to me in translation.^{i 19}I gave orders, and a search was made, and it was found that this city has risen up against kings from ancient times, and that rebellion and revolt have been carried on in it. ²⁰Mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and governed the whole province Beyond the River, and tribute, tax and duty were paid to them. ²¹Now give orders to stop these men, so that this city is not rebuilt until I give a further decree. ²²Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let the harm grow and hurt the interests of the king?”

²³As soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they hurried to Jerusalem to the Jews and made them stop by force of arms.

²⁴So the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a stop, and it remained stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.^j